Boys und Sensha-dō!
by Stellar Magic
Summary: The Ōarai Girl's School victory in the Sensha-dō Championships keeps it from closing, but financial problems still need to be solved. In desperation, the Student Council decides that the easiest way to increase enrollment is to make the school coed. Unfortunately, how many other electives would appeal to boys? Rated T for language and simulated combat.
1. Girl's School, No Longer

_Author's Note: I couldn't help myself… I mean I've got so many projects already, but this anime is just so awesome and funny I literally couldn't help myself. Before I start, I would like to clarify a couple things, as I will occasionally be dropping into Japanese terminology (or at least my attempt at Japanese terminology) where I deem appropriate. You won't find me referring to the sport the girls play as 'Tankery' but instead I will refer to it by its Japanese name. I will also use reference to another 'sport' or 'martial art' that will play something of a part, as a background element and something I may decide to utilize more at some point in the future._

_Oh, and I gave everybody simunitions as Sensha-dō is dangerous enough without live rounds flying around, accidents with tanks can easily be fatal… just look at the incident in the original story._

_Therefore, rounds fired by Federation certified tanks are a form of Simulated Munitions, similar to those first developed for military training. Simulated munitions are non-lethal ammunition that can function normally in military firearms and are often required to have identical ballistic performance to normal rounds. _

_Those unfortunate enough to be struck by tank rounds in the sport describe a hit as being like being hit by a baseball bat. A strong enough hit can break bones or leave minor burns from tracers but is unlikely to be fatal._

_Despite this, open top vehicles remain illegal in the sport (With American teams adding roofs to many of their traditional mainstays like the M10, M18, and M36)._

_For maximum spectacle, most tanks are fitted with computer control pyrotechnics to show shot effects and to blow off fittings and tracks. With the carbon reinforced interior providing abundant protection from these strikes._

_In addition, expect new schools and the appearance of even more characters. I have 16 separate OCs to add to the roster (which is already maddeningly huge with just canon characters)._

_Disclaimer: Girls und Panzer is the property of Actas._

* * *

**BOYS UND SENSHA-DŌ!**

**CHAPTER 1:  
Girl's School, No Longer**

Sakai Akio slowly lowered his binoculars and let out a long breath. Beside him, Nishizumi Miho focused through her binoculars, her auburn hair waving slightly in the faint breeze.

"I see four Shermans, one-thousand meters."

Akio lifted his binoculars again and peered at the four green tanks, as they rolled across the dry rocky ground up ahead. He chewed his lip for a moment and nodded. "Yes, I'm surprised they haven't deployed more of them."

"They've spread out, trying to find us..." Miho said as she lowered her binoculars. "We should be fine dealing with the four of them here on our own."

"Right," Akio said as he moved up in a low crouch. "Shall we?"

"Hai," Miho said with a nod before scrambling to her feet and running over to the parked Panzer IV that was her tank.

Akio scrambled over to his tank. It was a strange mix of features of classic tanks. There was the three return rollers and lower hull of a Panzer III, the sloped armor of a Panther, and a Panzer IV turret almost identical to the one fitted on Miho's Anglerfish.

It was a Panzer III/IV, a conceptual tank that had been abandoned by the Germans in favor of continued production of the IV and development of the Panther.

As Akio clambered up the front of the tank, he brushed against the small crest that identified the tank as Shark Team. He pulled himself up and dropped into the command hatch, plugging in to the intercom a second later.

"Start her up Gunjin. Senmonka, distance one-thousand meters, shermans. Wait for my command. Keibiin, tell Miho-chan the moment we're ready."

"Hai!" The crew answered and Akio smiled as the Panzer III/IV rumbled into action. He watched the gun rise up to point at the two distant Shermans, still unaware of their presence. Glancing to his left, Akio saw that Miho's tank was also ready, and Miho had raised her hand to signal the fire command to him. As her hand dropped, he barked the order. "Fire!"

The boom of the two KwK 40 75mm L/48 cannons washed over him. He watched the two tracer rounds streak through the air to strike the lead two tanks. Smoke billowed from the two tanks as they rumbled to a stop, white flags marking them as knocked out according to their onboard computers. The remaining two rumbled forward, their guns aiming vaguely in their direction, hurling shells.

The Sherman shells fell short, their short-barreled 75mm guns not capable of the range of the German guns, or penetrating either tanks armor at their current range. Akio could hear Heishi swearing as he loaded a second shell while Senmonka tracked the next tank. The Shermans were gunning their engines, rushing toward them across the dry plain toward the ridgeline that Miho had selected as one of the ambush points.

"Gun up!" Heishi shouted.

Senmonka adjusted his aim and Akio lifted his binoculars toward the Shermans once again. To his left, there was a crack as Anglerfish team fired again sending a shell roaring through the air toward one of the Shermans. A second later another Saunders tank was stopped in the middle of the field, smoking.

"I have her." Senmonka said. "Ready!"

Akio took a long moment to think back to how he'd ended up there before bellowing the next command. "FIRE!"

* * *

The crack of the shishi-odoshi made Akio's head snap up as he stepped through the door to the garden. The cool west breeze made the vast array of plants wave and whisper in the wind. He bowed his head slightly as an older man looked up at him, his head partly hidden behind the large straw hat. A slight smile played across his face and Akio looked up into the face of his grandfather.

"Ojiisan..."

"Akio," His grandfather said faintly before pulling off his straw hat and turning to face him, a happy smile on his face. "You have come... It is good to see you. Come, the garden needs planting, and my old hands aren't as able as they were when they held a yoke and throttle."

Akio nodded once and bent down beside his grandfather, helping the old man to plant a set of flowers. As he worked, Ojiisan began to talk. "It has been too long since we saw each other... first, with you living in America and then going to the Shoryuhai. Have your fears lessened at all?"

Akio shook his head. "I have tried, Ojiisan, but the fear remains... I do not think I'll ever be able to fly on my own as you do."

"Did, Akio, did... I could not fly again, my hands are too old. Sentōki-dō is a game for the young." He smiled at those words and Akio glanced at his grandfather, noticing the eye patch he wore today. Most days, he did not, but the old war wound must have been troubled by the dirt and sun. "How goes your schooling?"

Akio flinched. "It doesn't, the Academy Ship Shoryuhai is being decommissioned."

"That is unfortunate." His grandfather turned to look at him again. "Where have you been transferred?"

"O... Ōarai," Akio murmured under his breath.

"Ōarai? I thought that was a girl's only school, surely there is not something you've been hiding about yourself Akio?" His Ojiisan said with a slight chuckle.

"They're changing to co-ed, something about fiscal difficulties." Akio said quietly. "I've been looking at the elective list..."

"Yes, and I would gather they do not have many that appeal to you, as a man." He said.

Akio bit his lip for a moment before nodding. "I... I'm going to take Sensha-dō."

His Ojiisan paused for a long moment then nodded once. "I see, well... if one cannot do one form of budō, then another may appeal." He straightened up and brushed his hands on his knees before looking at Akio. "Your grandmother was involved in Sensha-dō. Are you worried I would not approve?"

Akio glanced at the ground. "Yes, Ojiisan, you are on the Sentōki-dō Aces Authority board, I thought you might be ashamed since I—"

"Since you cannot do Sentōki-dō?" His grandfather shook his head. "I would not worry about that, your father was quite a fan of the sport of Sensha-dō as well, even when he flew for his school, and if you cannot be a pilot, why not a tanker? I suppose it is a good thing that I managed to convince the Sensha-dō Federation to allow men into their ranks... in exchange for letting Kuromorimine into the Aces Authority. I hope you will show them that aces are not limited to the air."

"Thank you, Ojiisan." Akio said with a faint bow. "I will not let you down."

"Ōarai is the national champions, I'm sure they'll take care of you, Akio." His grandfather said as he washed his hands with an old towel. "Listen to your captain, when you arrive. She is from a long line of tankers, and is an ace in her own right."

"I will, Ojiisan."

"Who all is transferring with you?"

* * *

Miho swallowed as she flipped through the papers that had been set before her by the Ōarai Student Council President. The announcement of the conversion of the school to co-ed in the middle of the year came as a bit of a shock. Already a number of the girls had grown excited about the arrival of a number of boys to their school. Ironically, with the Sensha-dō Federation announcing the allowance of men into the sport seemed almost perfectly timed to encourage the new arrivals to join Sensha-dō.

There were sixteen transfer notices on the top of the table, one for each of the boys that had elected to choose Sensha-dō as their elective. The group had a wide variety of interests outside of Sensha-dō. There was an automotive club member, a school regulations enforcement officer, five members of a model club, several members of their last school's Sentōki-dō club, a student council treasurer, a freshman, and a few others from a variety of different interests, ranging from kendo to photography.

Miho glanced up at Anzu and frowned. "I know many of our tanks are under-crewed. Leopon Team needs a radioman, Anteater Team needs a loader and a radioman, Turtle Team needs a radioman, Rabbit Team needs a loader for the 75mm gun, and Mallard Team needs a radioman, but that leaves ten more people without a tank. That's enough to crew two more panzers."

"True and we'll take the Student Treasurer for our team." Momo stated. "Unfortunately, we don't have the finances to purchase more tanks. Considering that Sensha-dō Teams normally have at least ten tanks, there must be a minimum of two more tanks somewhere aboard."

"Perhaps we could trade the Sentōki-dō aircraft we'll be receiving from the Shoryuhai." Anzu suggested before munching on a dried sweet potato. "There have to be places we haven't looked yet. This ship is nearly ten kilometers long and half a kilometer high after all."

"We will discuss that once the new students have arrived. Have you found a good way to divide these new students?" Momo asked.

"Since you have already agreed to take the former Student Council Treasurer... this Chishiki Akira, perhaps we shall put each with the group with which they would most likely fit in and befriend." Miho flipped through the papers a moment later and nodded to herself. "This one, Saito Yoshi is a freshman and he has good physical fitness scores... He will join Rabbit Team as the 75mm loader. Yakuin Takuma was a member of his old school's public morals committee, so he'll join Mallard Team. These two, Yuuta and Ryou, are gamers, so they will join the Anteaters and... This one is a member of his old school's Automotive Club, so he'll join Leopon Team. The others will need new tanks."

"Good, we'll see about the search for more panzers once they arrive." Momo stated. "The Sentōki-dō aircraft we will be receiving will be broken down and placed in long-term storage by the Automotive Club, unless one of their pilots can cough up the funds for hangar rental aboard."

Miho nodded and sat back. "It will be strange, having boys here."

"It is necessary. The additional income from their enrollment will help to ensure the school's future." Momo said. "Even your victory only bought us time, making the school co-ed will give us the funds to carry forward far into the foreseeable future."

Miho held up her hands. "I wasn't complaining..." She said softly and glanced back at the list of transfers. "I hope they will be willing to follow me."

"Are you kidding? Nishizumi-san, you're captain of a championship winning team... they'll listen to you!" Anzu assured her.

"I guess I'm just nervous."

* * *

"Stop that." Tsubasa growled as he glanced over at Akio in the seat beside him, nervously gripping the armrest of the plane and tapping his foot nervously. "Honestly, calm down... Everything is fine Sakai."

"Fine? We're a thousand meters above the ocean!" Akio Sakai stammered.

Mitsubishi Tsubasa groaned and pulled his arm as far from Akio as he could. "I wish you'd take something or get drunk before we have to fly anywhere. You're panicking, again! Now Sakai, calm down!"

Akio took a deep breath before turning from the window and began muttering under his breath while Tsubasa shook his head. "No wonder you never joined Sentōki-dō. Don't start hyperventilating, Sakai!"

"It's completely natural as humans aren't meant to be high up... we're plains apes, not monkeys... not monkeys." Sakai grabbed a paper bag from the seat before him and held it to his mouth, breathing in and out as he tried to keep from hyperventilating.

"I really should have ridden in the Hornet... then I wouldn't have to be stuck with your freaking out." Tsubasa said before glancing around the plane's cabin. "Hey, Senmonka... could you get him to calm down?"

"Is the window shade down?" Senmonka asked as he turned around in his seat.

"Yeah."

"We'll just have to distract him then." Ryou said as he closed his laptop. "Damn computer doesn't get a good connection for gaming... Did anyone else watch the Sensha-dō championship match?"

"I did!" Another boy called out and the small form of Saito Yoshi appeared in another row. "It was awesome... Ōarai beat the Kuromorimine High School despite being outnumbered two to one. They even managed to destroy the Maus Kuromorimine deployed!"

"They did?" Isamu Shodo asked. "I thought the only place you could kill one was the ammunition hatch on the back of the turret. What did they do?"

"IT WAS AWESOME. They used their Hetzer to force the Maus up into the air by ramming it, and then their Type 89 drove up on top of the Maus and pinned the turret in place while Ōarai's flag tank drove up on a ridge and shot down onto the engine deck." Yoshi said. "Ōarai has got an awesome team, I'm really glad I picked Panzers for my elective."

"Seriously... that sounds insane." Tsubasa said.

"I know... and their Captain is the best. She actually drifted her tank behind the Kuromorimine Flag tank at the end, it was awesome!" Yoshi said. "Hell, I think all the drivers drifted their tanks at least once, even their Porsche Tiger!"

"Isn't that the one with the electric transmission?" Tsubasa asked. "It sounds like it'd be cool to work with... I wonder how they drifted that Tiger."

Akio glanced around the group. "Seriously... they drifted tanks?"

"Yeah... and now he forgot about where he is." Tsubasa smiled. "What else do we know about Ōarai?"

"They were an all girls school so... there will be a lot of dating opportunities." Isamu said. "Girls that haven't seen boys for weeks and weeks..."

"And now we know why Isamu agreed to the transfer." Tsubasa said before leaning back in his seat.

* * *

Nishizumi Miho finished her homework with a flourish as she sat atop the Anglerfish, her team's Panzer IV. The tank had been through a whole war's worth of upgrades over the course of the Sensha-dō championship season.

Takebe Saori was draped across the engine compartment with her phone to her ear, and her red hair draped over the side of the tank like some halo. The five girls that formed the Anglerfish's crew had become close friends, in part thanks to their mutual experience in Sensha-dō, and in part thanks to the how well the five complemented each other.

Isuzu Hana, the tank's gunner, was a quiet and somber girl that practiced flower arrangements. Her family had turned on her for a short while when she announced she was joining Sensha-dō, but they had finally come around during the championship series.

Akiyama Yukari, the tank's loader, was a tank otaku. On finding a new tank or piece of equipment she would burst into an excited ramble about the particular weapon, part, or hull. Miho called it a 'Panzer High' and it greatly amused her friends. It also proved to be a useful source of information in battle as Yukari could list the dimensions of almost any tank making ranging targets much easier in the heat of battle.

Reizei Mako was a quiet and rather emotionless girl most of the time, who despised mornings to an extreme. She worked as the tank's driver and seemed to have an eidetic memory, capable of learning to drive the tank after just a cursory glance through the manual. Her good grades had been almost completely trashed by her inability to get to school on time, resulting in over two-hundred tardies before her record had been wiped as a thank you for winning the championship.

Saori was the radioman, and a bit of a gossip. She would daydream about boys and try to wake Mako up in the morning, as they had been friends since childhood.

Miho wasn't what one would expect from the team leader of a championship team in Sensha-dō. She was quiet, soft-spoken, and wanted friends more than most anything. Her family had been legendary Sensha-dō champions until she had lost them a match after abandoning her tank to save the crew of another panzer that had sunk into a river.

Her sister had led the team the final match of the championship series, and Miho heard that her mother had intended to disown her. She still did, but then Maho had told her to avoid speaking with mother at almost any cost.

Miho let out a tired sigh as she glanced over at the seven other tanks and crews that sat beside the ship's airfield in the setting sun. There was the Type 89 I-Go that the Volleyball team crewed, the Porsche Tiger that the Automotive Club worked on, the Hetzer Jagdpanther 38(t) that the Student Council crewed, the History Club's StuG III, the Game Club's Type 3 Chi-Nu, the Public Moral Committee's Char B1 Bis, and the freshmen's M3 Lee. They were eight tanks from a wide variety of nations.

The rumble of an in-line engine drew her attention skyward and she gaped as a Bf-109E-4B roared over the airstrip, its side painted with the unfamiliar insignia of the Shoryuhai High School. It broke into a wide turn and Miho let out a gasp as a second fighter plane roared low over the assembled tanks. She stared after it, a Bf-110G model, as the other assembled Sensha-dō crews clambered to the top of their planes to watch as six more fighter planes appeared, one after another.

There was a French M.S. 406, a Japanese A5M4, a Czech Avia B-534-IV, a Japanese A6M2-21 Reisen, an American P-40E Warhawk, and a Bf-109F-6/U 'Galland' Prototype. Each of the planes circled the airfield once more as a more modern passenger plane appeared and swung in toward the airstrip. The turboprop Bombadier DHC8-Q100 dropped onto the tarmac as two of the fighters flew just overhead like an escort.

"It must be the Shoryuhai Sentōki-dō team." Yukari observed as the eight planes flew past once more, and Miho waved toward one of the pilots that waggled his wings. "A pity this will probably be the last time they fly those planes..."

Miho shrugged. "Maybe we'll be able to start a team for them in the future?"

"That would be AWESOME!" Yukari said as the planes began to land one after another. "It can't be any more costly then Sensha-dō, can it?"

"Unfortunately the Sentōki-dō Aces Authority takes around a year to grant membership to applicant schools, even if we applied today the club wouldn't be able to participate until next year." Momo stated flatly.

"Aww..." Yukari said before slumping.

The passenger plane came to a stop before the tanks and Miho watched as the ramp lowered and the boys inside began to disembark, lugging bags and luggage as they did.

Momo lifted a speaker to her lips. "Attention please! Welcome to Ōarai, first I would like to thank you for agreeing to transfer to our school as we transition to a co-ed environment. Secondly, would those of you that have signed up for Sensha-dō as your elective please raise your hands."

Sixteen hands went up, roughly a third of the arriving students. A moment later Miho stood up on her Panzer IV.

"Welcome to the Ōarai Sensha-dō Team, I am the captain, Nishizumi Miho. We're a bit short of tanks for all of you, so I've made a few selections based on your records to fill in the gaps with the tanks we do have." She took a deep breath and flushed as she fidgeted before the crowd. "Chishiki Akira?"

"Hai!" An older student with curly black hair and glasses raised his hand.

"You will be joining Turtle Team... cou-could Turtle Team raise their hands." Miho asked and the three girls that were from the Ōarai Student Council raised their hands and the boy walked over to the girls and greeted them. "Next, Saito Yoshi?"

A rather small looking boy raised his hand, and Miho flinched inwardly hoping the boy was stronger then he looked. "You will be joining Rabbit Team."

The freshmen girls cheered as the boy hurried over to the M3 Lee looking a bit stunned.

"Yakuin Takuma?"

A boy with a helmet shaped haircut raised his hand. "Here."

"You will be joining Mallard Team." Miho stated and the boy walked calmly over to the Char B1 bis. "Next, Yuuta and Ryou?"

Two rather geeky looking boys leapt up, one of whom had an eye-patch.

"You will be joining Anteater Team." Miho said and the two boys ran over to the Type 3 Chi-Nu tank and hurriedly began to talk to the three girls there. Miho caught them sharing usernames, and they seemed to be stunned by each other's identity.

"Now, Mitsubishi Tsubasa..."

* * *

Tsubasa blinked and raised his hand. "Here!"

"You will be joining Leopon Team." Miho said from the top of her tank and Tsubasa actually whooped.

"YES! The Tiger P!" He ran toward the tank and hurriedly shook the hand of the tank commander who introduced herself as Nakajima Satoko. All four of the girls wore orange coveralls that featured countless stains, their faces seemed darkened by grease, and oil, much like his friends back home had been. Tsubasa quickly started talking to the girls, excitedly.

"So... we get to work with the Tiger? Does it really have an electric transmission?"

"Oh yeah, and the Maybach engine doesn't much get along with it..." Suzuki, one of the other girls said. "We have to baby it... We even had to do a bit of maintenance in the final match!"

Nakajima grinned. "Actually, we work with all the tanks... no one else in school is mechanically inclined, well except Miho but she's busy running the team. We'll be grateful for some help with that."

"Wait... all the tanks, what are you the Ōarai automotive club?" Tsubasa asked.

"YEP!" The four girls answered.

Mitsubishi Tsubasa grinned at that. "I was in my school's automotive club!"

"YES! A PETROL HEAD LIKE US!" Tsuchyia shouted.

* * *

Miho sighed as looked at the ten remaining boys looking a bit lost. "I'm sorry, but we don't have any open positions on the tanks yet... Once we find another tank or two you'll have your posts." She glanced over at the excited crowd by the Tiger P and smiled faintly. "Unfortunately the Sentōki-dō Aces Authority takes a year or more to allow a school to join, meaning that the Sentōki-dō aircraft will have to be placed in storage. The Automotive Club will be extremely careful with them to ensure they're able to function if we have need for them in the future... unless one of the clubs is willing to pay for hangar rental?"

When no one answered, Miho nodded faintly. "Welcome to Ōarai, if any of you need directions to your new apartments or housing, go ahead and ask. We'll be happy to show you around."

* * *

As the others left, the Automotive Club turned to the parked assembly of planes and Tsubasa ran a hand through his wild hair. "Great, just walk away and leave it to us then? Just like my last school."

Satoko laughed as she walked over to the nearest plane opened the engine housing. "It's the way of things... not that we mind." She whistled at the engine. "I'd love to put one of these in a car, just look at it a 1,175 horse power Daimler Benz DB 601Aa Inline."

"The F model has an even higher-end engine," Mitsubishi said. "So, let's bust out the tools and get these things to storage."

It took hours, but even Tsubasa had to admit the Ōarai girls were stunningly good mechanics. The Avia B-534-IV was disassembled within thirty minutes, and by the time darkness had fallen every plane was loaded up in a crate and ready to be driven to the cargo hold.

After they had driven the planes to the cargo elevator and headed down into the bowls of the ship, Tsubasa glanced around the massive cargo hold for long-term storage. As they drove to an open spot, he struck his head against a metal pipe sticking out from rather rotten looking crate.

As he rubbed his head, he looked up and gaped, recognizing the 'pipe' as being a gun barrel and a rather familiar looking one at that. "Satoko!"

A moment later they ripped open the crate to reveal a packed up tank turret, that looked almost identical to that of Miho's tank. As the group crouched around the turret, Satoko spoke up.

"That's odd. The traverse mechanism is different..." She frowned. "Hey, if there's a turret..."

"Where's the rest of the tank?" Tsubasa said.

"Well, we are in 'long-term storage' aren't we?" Satoko said with a grin. "Let's find it."

The five members of the Leopon team spread out through the hold, opening crates as they searched. After five minutes, Hoshino called out that she'd found another turret. Leaving the group puzzled until Satoko climbed over a wall of crates and gaped.

"I found them! There are two tanks back here!" She yelled. "Oh, this is going to be an all-nighter!"

* * *

Akio wandered through the streets of the Ōarai Academy Ship, his luggage dragging behind him. Each of the students had gotten a map and keys to their assigned apartment or other housing. As he walked, the streetlight overhead flickered to life and he frowned. It was getting late, and he was clearly lost on a ship the size of a small town.

After a few more blocks he stopped as he spotted a street sign with a name he recognized and turned on it. He walked by a dark bakery before finding the address he'd been given and started up the stairs. As he turned the corner he walked right into a teenage girl who let out a yelp and stumbled onto the floor. He froze as he glanced down at the auburn haired girl and swallowed.

"Nishizumi-san?" He stammered. "Captain, I'm sorry..."

She blinked and looked up at him before swallowing a lump in her throat and standing shakily to her feet. "It was my fault. I was not looking where I was going." She bowed slightly. "Are, are you lost?"

"I... I was, but I think this is the address I was given." Akio said as he showed her the slip of paper and Nishizumi blinked in surprise before smiling faintly.

"You must be my new neighbor then!" She said excitedly. "Your apartment should be just around the corner." She spun and hurried him over to a door. "Here it is."

"Thank you." Akio said as he fumbled with his keys and opened the door. Inside a rather bare one-room apartment lay before him. There was a bed at least, and a small refrigerator and bathroom, but little else. He dragged his luggage inside and set it atop the bed as Nishizumi watched him a bit nervously.

"I, I hope you are not upset I didn't assign you a panzer yet, Sakai-san." She said and Akio froze.

"You know who I am?" He asked.

"Hai, I memorized the roster of incoming students... I did the same thing for my classmates when I arrived so I could hopefully make friends more quickly." She shrugged slightly before her phone rang and she flipped it open. "Hello? Nakajima? Whaa? REALLY?"

"Nishizumi-san?" Akio asked.

"Where? I'll be right there... Did you call Yukari? She'll be excited, thank you." Miho shut the phone and smiled at him. "We have found two panzers for you."

"Really?" Akio stammered. "That was fast."

"They were in long-term storage, where we put the planes." Miho said quickly. "Do you want to come?"

"Sure, let me set my stuff down."

* * *

Miho swallowed nervously as she rode the elevator down to long-term storage, with Akio standing besides her looking almost as uncomfortable as she felt. The boy nervously ran his hand through his hair as the elevator came to a stop and the cargo door opened.

Yukari was bouncing up and down on her heels, her hands clasped on her cheeks squealing as they stepped into the cargo bay. Miho glanced up and gaped as she watched three of the Automotive Club members holding on to a length of chain that went round a pair of pulleys and down toward a familiar looking turret that was dangling over a rather strange looking hull covered in rust. The tank hull featured sloped armor like a Panther, but suspension like a Panzer III or IV, with three return rollers, a hallmark of the mark III, but the turret ring was larger and looked vaguely like a Panzer IVs except that it didn't seem to quite fit into the hull.

"A Panzer III/IV!" Yukari announced, "They're super-rare... The Germans never even prototyped it, so only replicas are around." She said. "And then there's the other one..."

"Other one?" Miho asked before turning to see a hulking green mass of armor plate and welded steel. She stared at it for a long moment. "A... a KV-1S?"

"Hai! It's not as good as the Porsche Tiger, but it's much better than most of the other tanks we have." Yukari said.

Akio stepped toward the Panzer III/IV as the automotive club lowered the turret into place. "Are these two tanks enough for the rest of us?" He asked Miho.

"Hai!" Miho said with a smile. "Nakajima-san, how are they?"

"They're in pretty good shape, just some rust spots from the age. It looks like they were disassembled and packed away like we did with the planes." Satoko answered. "And the new guy is working out great, he's been a big help."

"Good, that's why I sent him to your team." Miho said with a faint smile and turned to Akio. "So... Sakai-san, which of the two tanks would you like?"

"Me?" Akio asked.

"Hai, I think you can do it... right?" Miho said.

Akio looked at the two tanks and smiled as he glanced back at Miho. "I will take the Panzer."

"The Model club will take the KV then." Miho said. "Practice begins tomorrow afternoon at four. Don't be late!"

* * *

_Author's Note: I know I did one of these already, but after showing what Ōarai is getting in terms of Panzers, I thought I should explain some things. In a few other fanfictions I noticed that most of the tanks that the authors gave the new teams were often times quite superior to other tanks in Ōarai's inventory._

_Admittedly, it is hard not to be better than the Type 89 I-Go, but I chose the two new tanks for a very good reason. Each has major flaws._

_The Panzer III/IV has 30mm less armor then Panzer IV that Miho uses, it's sloped but that's about all it's got going for it in terms of armor. It is faster than the Panzer IV and carries the exact same armament (the turret is actually a modified Panzer IV Ausf. J turret) but here come some of the other flaws._

_The Panzer III/IV turret cannot rotate 360 degrees. Instead, it is limited to 270 degrees leaving a 90-degree dead zone directly aft, which it can't reach. Essentially, it is about as useful as Miho's Panzer IV but exchanges armor for speed and can't fully rotate its turret. In combat, it acts more like a Tank Destroyer then a traditional tank._

_The KV-1S is a different beast with a different set of limitations. For one thing, it's one of those awkward 'fast heavy tanks' that makes most people laugh. It has weaker armor then the Tiger P, a weaker gun (76mm ZiS-5), and is only slightly faster than the standard KV-1._

_The selection of the eight airplanes that landed on the Ōarai is meant to be a bit of a mirror of the 8 tanks that make up the Ōarai Team in the canon. It is also partly done to show those that have been putting together flying bands for 'Boys und Planes' for lack of a better term what a truly rag-tag team should be. No Fw-190D-9 for them… but early war stuff, heck the Avia B-534-IV is even a biplane!_

_Now, since I decided to include references to an airborne sport, I should say that you can expect there to be 'combined arms' matches and large scale exhibitions in this fanfiction where it's more than Panzers fighting each other. These matches aren't really for any titles however. Instead they're more for pride's sake._

_If this goes on long enough I may decide to have the Sentōki-dō club be restarted, and don't be surprised when say Kuromorimine breaks out a Fi-156 Fiesler Storch during a grudge match, or Saunder's second in command to have a Piper Cub circling around calling out tank locations from the air._

_Heck, we know Kuromorimine has a helicopter… they wouldn't have one just for show, would they?_


	2. Mr Shark und Mr Alligator

_Author's Note: In the anime, the tank teams are usually referred to as a person: Mr. Rabbit, Mr. Turtle, and so forth. I will occasionally use the Japanese name for the different teams, and these two newest tanks will be named in accordance with that tradition._

_I remember seeing on a forum someone complaining about the 'tank-fu' we see in this series. Among the many things they complained about was the ability for the tanks to drift, saying it's impossible._

_It is possible, strange though it may sound. I have seen footage from the 1940s of a series of M24 Chaffees sliding around a corner. I think it was part of the original 'The Day the Earth Stood Still' or something. I have also seen some troops in Iraq take an M2 Bradley IFV and park it Blues Brother's style, you know… handbrake parking._

_Actually handbrake parking is easier with most tanks and IFVs as most have separate brakes and gearing for each tread, allowing them to make a 180 degree turn without actually moving, by putting one tread in 'reverse' and the other in 'drive'. One of the few exceptions I know of is American tanks from the 1940s, which can't do that._

_Okay, now to some responses for the reviews. I have to admit some of what I say is guesswork. Severstal gave a rather long and detailed, well… critique would be a better word then review, and I have to applaud him (or her) for that._

_The simunition issue is actually heavily hinted at in the Girls und Panzer canon, as some of the manga talk about how each cannon shell has a microchip transmitter that interfaces with a black box on the tank (which determines when it's knocked out and controls the 'surrender' flag's deployment). Plus, nothing actually apparently penetrates the tank._

_This coupled with all guns seeming to have the same impact effect on hitting something suggests the guns aren't firing 'normal' ammunition. Could it be some sort of small caliber 20mm sabot or something? Sure. I just didn't feel like going into such detail._

_My choice of the name Gekitsui-dō for the plane sport was derived from the Japanese term for ace… Gekitsui-O. In retrospect it probably wasn't the best choice, as glancing at Wiktionary gave me sentōki for the translation for 'fighter plane', I'll probably go back and change the name to Sentōki-dō. There is also going to be occasional mention of a sport called Hohei-dō, which is the way of the infantry. Basically, that's played like paintball._

_Is Sentōki-dō dangerous to play? HELL YES. Ironically, combat dogfighting as an expensive sport actually exists. There's a company that does it in California, where they take planes out over the pacific and dogfight. They use lasers instead of simunitions, but I think you get the idea._

_Combat flying stresses airframes, and pilots tend to get very close to each other. All Sentōki-dō matches feature very strict rules of engagement and have an on-sight air traffic controller that referees the match, despite all this, accidents do happen. Planes crash, equipment fails, and so forth._

_Organizing a Sentōki-dō match is roughly like running America's Red Flag Air Force Exercise, but it may be easier for Academy Ships to actually do since you could have two opposing ships in the middle of the ocean for a match._

_About the team dynamics that is actually going to be a big issue in the coming matches, though the Rabbit Team gunner is probably extremely thankful she isn't loading those 75mm shells herself anymore. They're HEAVY for a freshman girl._

_Poor Saito is stuck with SIX freshman girls as team mates. At least one of them never says a word. Expect him to have trouble._

_The others, not so much… Nishizumi chose the people to integrate from her new selection of available crewmates based on what she could get about their personalities from their files. We have Mallard team (which is basically Sodoko and her two twins) getting a boy that had the exact same job and a similar personality. The Student Council team is picking up a boy that worked as a treasurer, because well… They suddenly realized they don't have one, and that's kind of important._

_As for Tsubasa… well, the Radioman on a Tiger doubles as the bow-machine gunner, and while not really useful, an MG34 Panzerlauf loaded with AP rounds can penetrate a tankette, damage treads, or other such things, it's not as useless as it first sounds._

_Ah, that brings us to what… looks like a great tank on paper: the KV-1S. The reason Nishizumi isn't giving it to her veterans is actually pretty simple. They'd need to be retrained for the tank, and well… that means you have effectively got 'two' teams learning how to use their tank instead of one._

_Plus, each tank has its own 'crew sponsor' right now, for lack of a better term._

_Jagdpanzer 38(t) – The Student Council  
KV-1S – The Model Club  
M3 Lee – The Freshmen  
StuG III – The History Club  
Tiger (P) – The Automotive Club  
Type 89 I-Go – The Volleyball Club_

_Cuteness and theming trump logic in this case, as for the tank itself, it doesn't stack up that well._

_KV-1S Max Armor Thickness = 82 mm  
Panzer IV Ausf. H Max Armor Thickness = 80 mm  
Tiger (P) Max Armor Thickness = 100 mm_

_ZIS-5 76mm Max Penetration = 91mm 100 meters  
7.5cm KwK 40 L/48 Max Penetration = 126mm 100 meters  
8.8cm KwK 36 L/56 Max Penetration = 170mm 100 meters_

_The only tank that can't penetrate the front of a KV-1S which an opposing team we've seen use (beside Anzio, because they don't count) is the Matilda II. Even the M3 Sherman from close range can go through the front of it, and its gun is a lot weaker than most of the tanks they currently field. The Hetzer, Panzer IV, Panzer III/IV, Tiger (P), and StuG III all out-gun it, and the Type 3 Chi-Nu's main gun has almost identical performance as well (90mm 100 meters instead of 92mm). Only the M3 Lee and Type 89 I-Go are out-gunned by the KV-1S._

_Now… moving on._

_ fuji92, I hadn't really thought about a Chinese themed school, as they don't really have much in the way of tanks in the time period, despite what you might think after playing WoT. A china themed school either would be: A.) All soviet tanks or… B.) Early war tanks that make Anzio seem like a real opponent._

_Actually for the Chinese Nationalists, they would use the Carden Loyd Tankettes, Vickers 6-tons, L3/35s, L3/33s, Panzer Is, T-26s, M3 Lees, M4 Shermans, and M18 Hellcats. Talk about a strange line up…_

_But New Schools? Oh yes, there will be new schools, and I checked a bit and it seems that most schools have 20 tanks (or more), it's just they're limited to 10, 15, and 20 at each bracket to give small schools a better chance. Exhibition matches? Who knows how many could be fielded? I think St. Gloriana showed up with five just to be fair._

_Anyway, enough about me gabbing… on to the actual story._

_Disclaimer: Girls und Panzer is the property of Actas._

* * *

**CHAPTER 2:  
****Mr. Shark und Mr. Alligator**

Akio spent the night with his laptop computer perched atop his knees. Miho's decision to name him commander of the Panzer III/IV they'd discovered had been a complete surprise and while Akio knew a great deal about the other military arts, his understanding of tanking was rather limited. He began to research the art as best he could, and looking up various panzer aces from previous years and how they'd been successful. He read a manga, _Otto Carius: Doromamire No Tora_, and did his best to work his way through the various stories and discussions of tank tactics.

Ultimately he found that it came down to some rather simple rules, much like Sentōki-dōdid, even though he wasn't capable of riding in a plane without panicking, he had been raised in a culture that discussed the sport and knew the main rules... the dicta Boelcke. For tanks, the rules were relatively obvious in retrospect and Akio guessed that many of them went back to the Art of War just as well as Sensha-dō.

1.) Know your enemy and their capabilities. If your gun can't punch through their armor, you shouldn't waste the shot. Instead you should find a way to get a shot that will penetrate.

2.) Stop to shoot, most tanks do not have any means of gun stabilization so shooting on the move is almost certain to result in a miss.

3.) Be aware of your surroundings. There is a reason tank commanders stick their heads out and keep their ears uncovered. In a buttoned up tank, vision is extremely limited, to the point that it is easy for an enemy to sneak up on you.

4.) Use the terrain to your advantage by seeking out hull-down positions and making your tank as small a target as possible. You can also seek out positions that will force the enemy to expose their underside to approach, such as the reverse slope of a ridgeline.

5.) Stay mobile and don't be afraid to retreat, a parked tank is a dead tank.

Looking through the matches, Akio was surprised by how often teams failed to follow those rules, even teams as vaunted as Kuromorimine didn't stop to fire their guns and it seemed as if most of the teams fired volleys that usually missed. Ironically it was Ōarai that alone seemed to follow the rules for the most part. While it was true they did fire on the move, Akio saw that it was far more common for them to come to a sudden stop before making a shot.

Amazingly, the team of under-dogs tended to demonstrate a far better level of accuracy then most of those they seemed to engage by the end of the championship season. If they had only had tanks where their hits would do actual damage they likely would have swept away their opponents in a hail of shell fire.

That, and the Saunders match could have ended the moment the Type 89 I-Go had stumbled on the Saunder's flag tank and pumped a round into their rear. Oh well, it had been only their second match.

Akio let out a tired sigh as the small alarm clock he unpacked read two in the morning. He pushed himself away from the computer, picked up the battered manual that Miho had handed him for a Panzer IV, and started to read, hoping most of the instructions and procedures were the same. He slowly drifted off as he flipped to adjusting the sight and fell into a fitful slumber.

* * *

Tsubasa collapsed atop the engine deck of the Panzer after he tossed the grimy rag he'd used to clean the Panzer III/IV's drive shaft. Beside him, Sadoko was humming to herself as she cleaned the twelve cylinder heads for the Maybach HL-120TRM engine. The low rumble of the KV-1S engine echoed in the cargo hold and Tsubasa Mitsubishi sighed. "It runs, I suppose that's good for a Russian tank?"

"Aww! Nakajima-san! The transmission is shedding iron fillings!" One of the girls that working on the KV-1S shouted, "What should we—"

"Let it run for a while, I read Russian tanks tend to do that, after turning over the engine a couple of times it'll clear up. Something about bad workmanship on the gearing," Sadoko Nakajima said before rubbing her forehead. "It'll be fine."

"So... I'm going to be on your tank team Nakajima-san? What's my job?" Tsubasa asked.

"Radioman and machine gunner, not that the machine gun is much use in a tank battle," Sadoko said with a grin. "I think we're done here, I'll see you later."

* * *

_The snap of metal tearing echoed across the runway and Sakai stared at the green painted plane as its wing dipped to the runway's surface. The landing strut scattering behind the plane reduced to little more than debris. As he watched sparks flew from the metal skin of the plane's polished surface as it skidded off the runway and into the side of a grey painted fuel tanker. The sickening crunch echoed across the airstrip and Sakai watched as fuel began to spill from both the fighter and the tanker._

_"Get back! THE MAGNETOS ARE ON!" One of the ground crew shouted before a spark turned the plane into an inferno, and twin bangs from the ammunition boxes exploding filled the air._

Sakai woke with a jerk, his heart hammering in his chest before he toppled out of the bed. The alarm at the end table began to beep as he ran a hand over his face and he turned it off. He stumbled to the bathroom, started his morning routine with a shower, and changed into the school uniform.

He stumbled out the door of his apartment just as Miho checked the lock to her own door.

"Ohayō, Sakai-san." Miho said before smiling faintly. "Running late?"

"A bit, Nishizumi-san, I spent the night researching panzers." Akio said before following her down the stairs and onto the street. "You?"

"A little... Just nervous about having boys in school, no offense," Miho flushed a bit at that. "Did you find anything interesting?"

"Not really... just some rules of thumb. I hope the Panzer III/IV is similar enough to your tank that the manual you gave me will help." Akio shrugged.

"You'll figure it out, I'll help." Miho led the way down the street and an awkward silence built between them for a few moments. "Umm... The Panzer, have you decided how you will name it?"

"Name it?" Sakai asked.

"Of course, all the tanks have names. There's Mr. Rabbit, Mr. Anglerfish, Mr. Hippo..." Miho said before giggling. "We have Mr. Duck and Mr. Mallard."

"Umm... How about Same-san? Mr. Shark?" Akio suggested after a moment.

"Mr. Shark?" Miho nodded after a moment. "I like it... Oh, and I have chosen the rest of your crew from the student records I got. The model team will take the KV-1S. Unfortunately we do not have a manual for it."

They walked on, reaching the gates before the Public Morals Committee began marking tardees and headed for classroom 2-A.

In retrospect, Akio realized that he should have expected what happened next. He and Miho shared a homeroom, and the first few words that came out of the teacher's mouth were warning him and the other boys from cozying up to the girls. It was little surprise that most of the staff were women, as it had been a girl's school up until their transfer and the conversion to a co-ed academy had begun.

Class was boring. After he and the other new transfers introduced themselves they spent most of the time taking notes and trying to get used to the curious looks from most of their neighbors. At least he wasn't alone in the class, as three of the other members of the Shark's crew had been assigned the same home-room as he was.

Senmonka Masaru was a tall and rather weedy looking sort, who had for a short time been on the Shoryuhai Hohei-dō team and the equally short lived Paintball club. Akio had grown up next to him, and their grandfathers had a rather strange and amicable relationship. Masaru's grandfather had served amongst Kuribayashi's famed defenders of Iwo Jima and surrendered to the Americans. The two of them hadn't met, until Sakai's grandfather had gone to the Sōtō Monastery after the war, though Masaru's grandfather could recall watching Sakai's grandfather outmaneuver an entire squadron of American fighters over the island by himself.

Senmonka and Mitsubishi Tsubasa were the only two transfer students that Akio considered friends. Akio wondered at times how Masaru managed to achieve his near Zen like calm. He was quiet and unshakable; two things that Akio hoped would be useful in Sensha-dō.

Besides Senmonka, there was Gunjin Hayate and Keibiin Kenji, among the students in class. The two had been something of a pair on the Shoryuhai, a rather odd set of friends that seemed more like a comedy team than anything else. Kenji had been the one and only member of Shoryuhai's Radio club to transfer, and Hayate was the only member of the school to have a driving license before the transfer, not that it did him any good without a car of his own.

As class broke for lunch, Akio was surprised when Miho stopped by his desk accompanied by three of her own crew. "Sakai-kun, perhaps we could have lunch together?"

"Hai..." Akio answered nervously. "Is it alright, if my crew joins us... I've been meaning to talk to them."

Miho paled slightly before nodding. "Yes, that would be a good idea I think. I should talk to the Model club about the second tank as well." She swallowed nervously before Saori giggled.

"Nishizumi-dono? Is something wrong?" Yukari suddenly asked as Akio watched their captain carefully.

"No..." She said quietly. "I guess being around all these boys is making me nervous."

"Is it all the boys, or just one boy? Nishizumi-chan?" Saori asked in a teasing voice and Akio saw Miho's eyes defocus slightly before she held her hands up in a placating manner.

"It's nothing like that. I will just have to adjust. What about you, Takebe-san?"

"Ehh?" Saori stuttered. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Akio stepped away from the girls as Hana spoke up. "I would have thought—"

He slid shut the door, cutting off the gossip and glanced over at Masaru and the other boys picking up their books and getting ready for lunch. He coughed and the three of them turned their attention to him. He took a deep breath. "Well... Masaru, it seems that fortune has smiled upon us... Nishizumi informed me that they found two tanks last night. She... gave me command of one of them."

"You, Sakai? Do you know anything about tanks?" Hayate asked with a snort.

"No, but I've been doing research..."

Keibiin Kenji laughed. "You hear that, he's doing 'research'. I wonder if that means he's talking to Nishizumi?"

"Of course, she is such a quiet little thing. How she led this place to victory is completely beyond me." Hayate said. "She is cute though..."

"Enough, you two... It seems that Akio has at least been working on what he'll be doing with a tank. What about you?" Masaru snapped to the two of them.

"What? I know radios... so I'll be the radioman." Kenji said with a quick shrug. "They'll be cool ones too, old crystal sets probably."

Hayate grinned. "And I'll drive. What about you Senmonka?"

Akio glanced at his friend and smiled faintly. "Gunner?"

"Gunner." Senmonka Masaru confirmed. "Who is our fifth?"

"Heishi-san." Akio said and Masaru said. "I think we can tolerate him being a loader, just so long as he stays away from the girls."

"That baka, I wonder how long it will be before he's in real trouble?" Masaru said with a shudder.

"Not long." Akio agreed.

* * *

"I'm sorry! I didn't see any sign on the door! How was I supposed to know it was the girl's bathroom!" Heishi Shin stammered as a group he could only describe as the helmet hair brigade led him down the hall. The best he could gather was that one of them was named Sodoko, another was named Pazomi, and a third called Gomoyo. Which was which was completely indecipherable to Heishi as he was lead into a small room at the end of the hall and found himself facing the equally helmeted haired figure of Yakuin "Yakuma" Takuma, one of the disciplinary officers from his last school.

"Well, that didn't take long." Takuma muttered as he pulled out a PDA and thumbed it on. "What did he do?"

"He attempted to peep in the girl's bathroom on third floor," Sodoko said. "He also had this..." She lifted a fiber-scope in her hand and Takuma scowled.

"HEISHI! What the hell were you planning on doing with that?"

* * *

Miho was immensely thankful that she memorized the dossiers of the transfer students as she sat down at a table in the lunch room. Cornering the five members of the Model Club was a curious experience, as the five of them were all, to put it bluntly, strange... Each seemed to have blueprints and books in their bags about camouflage patterns, field modifications, and individual planes, tanks, or even people they intended to build a model of. It hadn't taken more than a few moments for the five of them to plunge through their treasure trove of pictures and start to argue about how their KV-1S should be painted.

It was with a sigh of relief that she sat down with a bowl of Miso and ramen noodles allowing the argument that had started to fade into the background. Within a moment her four closest friends surrounded her, talking quietly as they started to eat their lunch.

"Miporin, are you okay?" Saori suddenly asked. "You've been very quiet."

"I am fine, I was just thinking... We should have a practice match today, to introduce the new students to Sensha-dō." Miho said. "With the two new tanks, we'll have ten tanks now, enough for two five tank teams to practice against each other with."

Hana nodded. "More practice experience will certainly help if we want to maintain our title."

There was a slight clatter as four boys wandered over to the table and Miho glanced up to see Akio. "You did invite us to join you, Nishizumi?"

"Of course... we'll just make room. Where is Heishi-san? I thought he would be with you?"

"No idea, we haven't seen him since this morning, probably in trouble." Masaru said as he glanced over to the girls. "Takebe-san, Isuzu-san, Reizei-san, und Yukari-chan... I do not believe we have been truly introduced. I am Senmonka Masaru and this is Sakai Akio... The two irritable looking ones are Gunjin and Keibiin."

"Hey... We're not irritable, just mischievous." One of the pair said immediately.

Keibiin shrugged. "Well, not always... sometimes we are merely irritable." He said. "Sakai-san, this tank... you haven't told us what it is yet."

"It's a Panzer III/IV." Yukari snapped with excitement. "It's so cool, and fast, and strange... It has the same gun as ours does, but it's faster and less armored."

"A prototype, that is neat." Masaru said before glancing at Hana. "What is the gun's muzzle velocity?"

"790 to 990 meters a second with an armor piercing shell, depending on whether it is APBC or APCR simulated ammunition. With a high explosive or HEAT shell, the muzzle velocity drops to a mere 475 to 550 meters a second." Hana said quietly, in a surprisingly composed voice. "On the Anglerfish, I have found that it's best to judge distance a little short rather than being long."

"Interesting, you will show me your technique, won't you Isuzu-san?" Senmonka said.

She blushed faintly before nodding. "I will after class, assuming the functionality is the same."

"It should be the turret is identical, except for the rotation mechanism." Yukari assured her in a very excited voice.

Saori shrugged. "Well, okay... but that's not the most important thing, is it? What are you going to name it, each tank we have has the name of an animal."

"The Shark." Akio said with a glance at Miho. "Same-san."

"Ooo..." Saori said. "That's a good name."

"Nishizumi-domo, did you ask the modelers what they would name their tank?" Yukari asked.

She nodded. "Yes... they said they would call it, the Alligator."

"Mr. Shark and Mr. Alligator, seems simple enough." Yukari said happily. "Easy to remember."

"How are you going to choose teams for the practice match tonight, Nishizumi-san?" Hana asked.

Nishizumi flushed faintly before pulling out her notebook. "I pulled them out of a hat... but here they are. Mr. Anglerfish will lead team one, and Mr. Turtle will lead team two. Here they are."

Akio leaned over and glanced at the notebook.

_Team 1:  
Mr. Anglerfish  
Mr. Shark  
Mr. Hippo  
Mr. Duck  
Mr. Alligator_

_Team 2:  
Mr. Turtle  
Mr. Rabbit  
Mr. Mallard  
Mr. Anteater  
Mr. Leopon_

"Why Turtle team?" Masaru asked.

"Kamashima-san is the Deputy Captain." Nishizumi said before shrugging slightly. "Momo will do her best for her team."

"Okay... It seems we'll have to fight the Tiger." Akio muttered under his breath. "So they've got three tanks with pivot mounted guns, and the toughest tank here."

"Hai..." Nishizumi said with a smile. "It will be fun."

* * *

Tsubasa sat with his car magazine opened up on the table, studying the newest model of Mitsubishi Lancer, as the rest of the Automotive Club talked about the various cars that were coming out that year. It was strange, he thought to himself, how despite being girls the group of four was, in many ways, much like his own friends had been. They were obsessed with cars, engines, and mechanics.

So was he for that matter, and that was just perfect as he had to work with them. In the corner of his eye he could see Saito looking a bit surrounded by the rest of the freshman girls that were his team. He looked a bit out of place, sitting there amongst the girls, but then the girls seemed to be trying desperately to include him... even if they were discussing their boyfriends.

Well, all but one. There was one member of that group which was staring off into space, looking as if she was spacing out.

"Tsubasa?" Hoshino suddenly asked. "You know... we haven't asked about you much, have we?"

Tsubasa glanced up at the green-eyed girl and shrugged. "No, I suppose you haven't."

"So why sensha-dō?" Hoshino asked. "Besides being able to work with such high end engines?"

Tsubasa grinned faintly at that and smiled. "Well... I used to be on my old school's sentōki-dō team."

"Really?" Satoko asked. "That's so cool... what plane did you fly?"

"Well, umm... I wasn't a pilot. I was the rear gunner for the 110." He said after a moment. "But then, I was also one of the guys keeping all the planes working. Those guys really thrash them about. My pilot made me red-out the first match too... that sucked."

"Red out?" Tsuchiya asked.

"Umm... It's when negative G-forces force all a pilot's blood to their brain, your vision slowly reddens before you pass out. If it's positive G-forces it's called black out, as all the blood is being pulled to your toes." Tsubasa explained.

"What about your pilot, did he join sensha-dō too?" Suzuki asked.

"Well, yeah one of them did. He's part of my school's Model club, Ego-san." Tsubasa said before shrugging. "He really has the ego, Daichi. He also was the one to have us change the Bf-109F-4 into the F-6/U 'Galland' special."

"The Model Club... Aren't they getting the KV-1S?" Hoshino asked.

"Hai," Satoko said. "But they're made of paper compared to the Leopon, we'll beat them easy."

"What about Sakai-san? I could have sworn the name was familiar..." Hoshino asked. "Isn't there a Sakai on the Sentōki-dō Aces Authority board?"

"Yes, it's Sakai's grandfather." Tsubasa closed his eyes. "Akio never joined sentōki-dō, he has a terrible fear of flying, and..."

"And?" Satoko and the other girls leaned toward him.

"Akio's father was Sakai Takeshi, and part of the national sentōki-dō team." Tsubasa's throat tightened. "He died in a crash when Akio was five."

"Ohh..."

* * *

Anzu Kadotani tossed the last bit of dried sweet potato into the air and snatched it before leaning back in her seat and staring across the ocean. She wasn't alone in eating in the Student Council room, as her ever present deputies Kamashima and Koyama were there, along with the newest member of their group, Chishiki.

Chishiki had rather wild and curly black hair and a set of circular glasses that gave the slim and rather dour looking boy an extremely geeky aura. He sat by the end of the table with a notebook open and a calculator balanced on his knee, tapping in numbers as he flipped through the aging and rather decrepit set of books that the Student Council had kept as to the school's financial situation.

"We've had numerous requests for exhibition matches since the tournament finale." Momo stated as she pulled out her own papers and started to look through them. "It seems that our victory has also encouraged other schools to join sensha-dō, as the fact that a no-name school with second rate tanks succeeded in winning the championship has made it seem to be a much more open sport than it was with Kuromorimine dominating every year."

"More matches will just make us better." Anzu said. "Then we can keep the championship again this next year."

"I figured you'd say that, so I've decided to make up a schedule of matches for every weekend. It will keep the teams very busy. Saunders desperately wants a rematch after the championship, and they said something about taking off the kid-gloves." Momo said. "Apparently they want to take the team they wanted to bring to the finals and pit it against us in an annihilation style battle."

Chishiki glanced up at that. "That would definitely load the deck in Saunder's favor. I do not think this school has ever won an annihilation match."

Anzu choked at that and Momo grimaced. "We have only been in one annihilation match, and that was the first one we ever did."

"Well, we'll have to see to it that we don't lose this one then." Chishiki said, "As it may pressure the Federation into changing the championship rules."

Yuzu swallowed. "We will be outnumbered two to one... and have to destroy all of them?"

Anzu harrumphed. "We'll do it! Saunders wasn't that tough and we're a lot better than we were!"

* * *

The afternoon classes sped by, and soon the group arrived at the depot that held the ten tanks for the sensha-dō team. Nishizumi stood before the gathered group and swallowed nervously. "Good afternoon, as I hope you've all heard we've found two more tanks for our team last night and the Automotive Club spent most of the night getting them combat ready. I thought, now that we have ten tanks it would be a good time to have a practice match and introduce our new arrivals to what sensha-dō is all about."

There were mutters at her words, and Momo stepped forward. "The teams are as follows: Team One - Anglerfish, Shark, Hippo, Duck, and Alligator. Team Two is Turtle, Rabbit, Mallard, Anteater, and Leopon. We will have one hour for all teams to familiarize themselves, and bring their new crew members up to speed."

"Remember, this match is just for fun and to introduce our newest members to the sport..." Nishizumi said. "Please, do not be discouraged if you are defeated. It happens to everyone, eventually."

The crews quickly dispersed to their tanks, and Akio clambered atop the panzer grey hull of his assigned tank and clambered inside while Masaru dragged Heishi over. At the same time, he asked Isuzu for some tips on the using the gun, while the other members of his crew clambered aboard and found their posts.

Gunjin swore. "There's no steering wheel! Just two levers and a clutch, how am I supposed to drive this?"

The quiet Reizei-san stopped before the drivers hatch and leaned over to glance inside. "The clutch puts it in gear, each lever controls one tread, since you can put one in reverse and the other in drive the tank can turn around without using any space."

"So... these levers are the throttle and the brakes for each side?" Gunjin asked. "And the clutch just shifts?"

"Hai... Do you need any more assistance?"

"Just hold on, let me try this out." Gunjin muttered before the tank engine rumbled to life and Reizei stepped back out of the way. A moment later he pushed both levers forward and the Shark almost rocketed out of the garage, while Akio hung on to the side of the commander's copula for dear life. Inside Heishi started cursing as he slammed into the side of the turret before finding his seat. Masaru burst into laughter as Keibiin started whooping.

"DRIFT IT! DRIFT IT! DRIFT IT!" The Leopon team yelled as they roared past and Gunjin pulled one of the levers back immediately turning the tank sideways and sliding it for a few meters before coming to a stop. Cheers came from the Tiger tank and Gunjin stood up to take a bow.

Nishizumi laughed from her seat as Reizei muttered. "Amateur."

* * *

Ego Daichi scowled as he settled into the tank hatch and cocked his head at the Cyrillic lettering inside the compartment. The rest of the model team was slipping into their predetermined positions and Daichi was itching to see what this 'fast' tank was capable of. He settled back on the rather small seat and watched his crew slowly getting the hang of the tank, moving various parts, gears, and the clutch.

A rear-turret mounted machine gun pinched Ego's side as he ducked down and turned to Jiga Kenshin. "So... have you made sense of this beast?"

Kenshin shrugged as he flipped through his iPad and pointed to various parts. "I think so Daichi, but it's not good news..."

"As if I didn't know that the moment I heard KV-1S." Daichi muttered. "So, what have you found?"

"Well, it's a KV... so no electrical traverse, just hand cranks." Kenshin said as he tapped the controls. "You know some of the Panzers have electrically boosted traverse and manual for slight adjustments?"

"Yeah..."

"Well this doesn't. Plus the turret traverse doesn't work so well on an incline. It's a standard KV-1S model 1942... So it has a ZIS-5 76mm gun, which sucks. We're fast and have some fair bit of armor, but that's about it. We've got four DT machine guns... But it's not like that'll be of much use." Kenshin observed as he crouched a bit and let the loader check the ammunition ready rack. "At least we can hit 45 km/h on a road. That's almost fifty-percent faster than the KV-1 model 1942."

"I'd rather have the extra 50mm of frontal armor," Daichi grumbled. "Shodo? Have you figured out the driver's position?"

"Hai! It's so simple a monkey could do it!"

"The whole tank is that way... it's Russian." Daichi muttered before grabbing the simple intercom. "Forward, slow."

The KV rumbled and slowly crept from the garage, as Daichi peeked out of the hatch.

* * *

Nishizumi smiled as the tanks began to move out, the more experienced crews racing for the starting positions while the less experienced crews worked their way slowly to the jump off positions. Glancing down she saw Yukari with her head out the hatch watching the tanks move out. The gaming club's team had finally seemed to figure out their tank, thankfully, and while the model club was cautious with their KV-1S, it seemed they'd figured the basics out.

The Panzer III/IV was a surprise. It sped along as its driver pushed it to the limits like a race car driver trying to find just how much he could thrash a new car. It was a wonder he hadn't thrown a track yet.

As the two teams had found their starting positions, Miho remembered the tank battle she'd had in the Anglerfish, and recounted all the mistakes she could think of off the top of her head. Slowly she tapped her radio. "Momo, is your team in position?"

"Hai."

"Then, let us begin." Nishizumi said.

* * *

Akio listened to the team radio channel as the group of five tanks slowly spread out to a distance of around fifty meters between each tank. "Our first step will be to find the Tiger, either to avoid it or destroy it as that is the single most powerful tank on the enemy team. Mr. Duck, I want you to be our scout once again."

"Hai!" The Volleyball girls and the Type 89 rumbled off through the woods.

"Mr. Hippo and Mr. Shark, you will be our tank hunting team. There is a small rise, five hundred meters north-north-west that should give you a good view of the surrounding area, hole up there and we will attempt to draw the enemy to you. Mr. Alligator and the Anglerfish will attempt to flush out the enemy once they have been spotted. Does everyone understand?"

"Hai," Akio said and his voice was mirrored by several of the others on the channel.

* * *

Tsubasa had his head against the radio set as the Tiger (P) rolled through the hills, it's turret slowly turning searching for targets. In the commander's cupola, Satoko hummed to herself. "I can really see for once up here..."

"Alright the plan is, we find them and smash them!" Momo announced and Tsubasa glanced at Hoshino who snorted at that statement.

Another set of voices that Tsubasa identified as the Gaming Club started to chant, "Hetzers gonna Hetz... Hetzers gonna Hetz..."

He pulled off his headset and scowled. "Is it always like this?"

"Usually when Momo's in charge," Satoko said. "Hmm... We've got the biggest gun, heaviest armor, and longest reach. Let's go find a hill and snipe them."

Hoshino grinned. "Now that sounds like a plan."

* * *

Daichi stared through the commander's periscopes of his tank following along behind the Anglerfish. He could hear branches snapping under the treads or against the turret. The smell of oil and gas filled the compartment with fumes. The periscopes gave little more than a narrow slice of visibility for the outside world, and inside the rumble of the engine was nearly deafening.

"Let's avoid the bridge this time..." Nishizumi said across the radio. "Mr. Duck, have you found them yet?"

"Still working on it, Nishizumi-domo, these trees are like a net catching every one of our driver's serves."

Daichi frowned. _What the hell did that mean?_

* * *

"Hetzer's gonna Hetz?" Chishiki muttered to himself as Momo's eyebrow twitched.

Anzu grinned at that and bit into her sweet potato snack. "It sounds like that one American saying... on the Internet."

"Like trolling? Oh, I get it... 'Haters gonna hate'. No wonder its Anteater team that's quoting it." Chishiki sighed. "So, we're just going to go and randomly drive toward the enemy team?"

"Momo, that's the plan you came up with?" Anzu asked. "Fine, I'm in charge!"

Momo sat down and scowled as Anzu reached up for the hatch and popped her head out. "Stop the tank Koyama." She pulled out her binoculars and started to look around. "Where are we... Momo, where's the map?"

"Section B-14, just west of the river," Momo said as she opened the loader's hatch and clambered out beside Anzu. "What's wrong with my plan?"

"We're up against Nishizumi-chan, Momo. Just attacking won't work against her." Anzu said before glancing at the map. "There's a hill here, maybe we should head that way and..."

The tree immediately behind the Hetzer groaned and collapsed before the familiar shape of the Type 89 I-Go stopped in the road immediately behind them. Anzu gaped as the Isobe Noriko, who had been standing on the engine deck, hanging onto the commander's hatch stared at them for one long moment before bellowing.

"HETZER THREE O'CLOCK, CLOSE, SPIKE HER!"

Anzu swore as the turret swung toward the back of the tank, where only 8mm of armor protected it and a shot rang out. The pyrotechnic charge in the engine deck exploded and a thick blue-black curtain of smoke fell around the Hetzer. Anzu turned and looked up just as the white flag deployed.

"They got us..." She slumped, "This is, embarrassing."

* * *

"WE SPIKED THE TURTLE!" Miho heard across the radio, and she blinked in surprise.

"What?" Miho asked. "Mr. Duck?"

"We got the Student Council's Tank, she's out of the game!"

Miho blinked in surprise before a faint smile played across her lips. "Well done, Mr. Duck, congratulations."

Yukari turned to look up at Miho. "The Type 89 actually took something out? AWESOME!"

* * *

As the Type 89's crew was celebrating their first victory in memory, a huge hulk of grey steel rumbled out of the underbrush, its massive 8.8cm bore pointing toward the peak of the only ridgeline on the Ōarai Academy Ship's superstructure. To its left the drab green-grey of the Char B1 bis appeared. To its right was the olive drab of the M3 Lee.

Slowly 'Erwin' commander of the StuG III lowered her binoculars and scowled at the oncoming group of tanks. She glanced at the pile of branches that had fallen on the tank as she'd maneuvered it to the hull down position overlooking the approach to the hill, and then she tapped her throat microphone.

"Nishizumi-san, the Tiger and two supporting tanks are approaching me and the Shark's position. Range five hundred meters."

"Understood."

As those words filtered into her consciousness, Erwin dropped into the tank and shut the hatch before spinning around her cap and peering through the 'scissors', the rather unique set of periscopes that were on the StuG, she studied the oncoming tanks. "Load AP!"

"Gun up!" 'Caesar' said before she sat back onto her seat.

"Target, the Char... Let's show these Frenchman why you don't mess with Germany, 'Saemonza'... you may fire when ready."

"Understood," The girl who called herself 'Saemonza' said as she sighted on the mass of steel that was Mallard team. A moment later the immense boom of the 75mm KwK 40 L/48 echoed in the compartment as the spent round ejected from the gun and 'Caesar' lugged a second one into place.

"Short, damn. Five meters short Saemonza." Erwin shouted as she stared through the periscope. "And now for the..."

Erwin froze and her mouth dropped open in surprise as the Tiger (P) rumbled forward and suddenly the six small mortars mounted beside the gun mantlet fired, each sent out a smoke shell creating a curtain of thick white smoke between the StuG and the enemy tanks.

"Smoke, damn!"

* * *

Saito Yoshi swallowed nervously as the boom of a shell being fired echoed outside. He glanced at the girls who suddenly tensed at their stations. In the 37mm turret overhead, the gunner, Oono Aya swung the gun toward some point in the distance. "I think that was Erwin-chan, she has that scary assault gun!"

A bang echoed in the tank as the gun fired and silently the loader, Maruyama Saki, slammed another round into the breach.

"Come on Yoshi-kun, it's time to get to work!" Ayumi, the 75mm gunner shouted as she stared through the optic of her gun. "What are you shooting at Aya? All I see is smoke!"

"Shoot where my tracer goes Ayumi!" Aya shouted back as another shell shot from the breech of the 37mm and clattered to the floor of the tank.

"I see it!" Ayumi shouted. Then there was a boom as the 75mm fired and a shell casing was spat from the massive breech of the gun. Yoshi grabbed one of the heavy rounds and slammed it into the gun's breech as another shell spat from the 37mm.

"Take this Erwin, you cross-dresser!" Aya shouted.

"Hentai..."

"History otaku!"

Yoshi laughed before another shell casing ejected from the 75mm and he grabbed another round.

* * *

"Hippo is heavily engaged." Akio said as he lowered his binoculars and looked out over the engagement that had started. "Nishizumi-san, have you seen Anteater?"

"Negative, they have to be around here somewhere... Can you hold off the three you're facing now Erwin?"

"For now... unless the Tiger hits me," Erwin answered. "That thing will go through this tank like it's made of butter."

"Understood, Shark-san and Duck-san, support Hippo-san. Alligator-san and I will find the Anteater."

"Right," Akio said before dropping back into the command hatch. "Masaru, let's make it so they know we're here."

"Roger that... Heishi, load Armor Piercing." Masaru said as he began to make minute adjustments to his aim with the hand-crank. A moment later he bit his lip as Heishi slammed the 75mm shell into the gun's breech.

"Gun up."

"Have you got her?" Akio asked.

"I think so, no chance on that Tiger at this range, is there?"

"No... Go for one of the other two." Akio said. "They're both about equal threats with their armament."

"Right." Masaru began to mutter to himself. "What was it she said, strokes... let's see, dropping in elevation, windage, set for AP..." Then he smiled. "I've got it."

"FIRE!"

The concussion of the shell roaring out of the muzzle washed over the whole crew. Masaru stared in shock through the optics as Heishi cursed. "Son of a bitch!"

"That was..." Hayate muttered.

Beside him, Kenji swallowed. "Fucking awesome."

"Except for one thing..." Masaru muttered.

"What?" Akio asked.

"I missed."

The clang of a 47mm shell bouncing off the armor made the whole tank echo and Akio swore. "HEISHI, LOAD ANOTHER SHELL!"

* * *

"Target, umm... Panzer, at three o'clock, range one-thousand!" Satoko shouted. "Hoshino, hurry... They might take out Mallard team if they compensate for that last shot."

"I'm hurrying. You know the traverse doesn't like slopes!" Hoshino answered as she hit the foot pedal trying to get the gun on target. "Come on..."

"Shell loaded," Suzuki said. "Make it count, Hashino."

"Come on..."

Another crack from a 75mm shell followed and Tsubasa scowled as he saw the B1 bis suddenly disapper in a flash of black smoke and pyrotechnics. A moment later the tank was revealed with a small white flag waving from its top.

"They got Mallard!" Satoko snapped. "Hoshino!"

"I see them..." Hoshino snapped back before pushing her green eyes against the optics and making a few slight adjustments. "Come on... I have you now."

Tsubasa gasped as the entire tank seemed to rock from the concussion of its 88mm main gun. Through the small slit viewport and periscope for the bow machine gun he watched the tracer arc through the air before colliding with the grey painted hulk that was the Shark. A moment later it sat smoking with a white flag fluttering over its engine compartment.

"Wow... that 88 is sure something and I thought the guns on the Bf-110 had recoil," Tsubasa muttered.

* * *

Akio groaned from the bottom of the turret Masaru rubbed his forehead and looked at Heishi who seemed to be dazed. "Whoa... what happened?"

"Leopon killed us." Masaru said before smiling. "That was awesome though. I got the Char!"

"Good... so we're not worthless." Akio muttered from where he lay.

* * *

Erwin grimaced as she peered through the scissors and saw the top of the M3 Lee, cruising above the smoke. With a smirk she called out. "Target, M3 Lee: two hundred meters, I can see the turret."

"Excellent." Caesar said as she grabbed another shell and loaded the gun. A moment later the tank rocked from a shot and the shell casing clattered to the floor.

"That's a hit!" Erwin called before the Tiger began to drive into view through the smoke. "SCHLIESSE! TIGER AHEAD!"

* * *

Saito coughed as Aya put out a tiny little fire with an extinguisher and the team slumped at their posts, defeated. "Aww... the stupid cross-dressers got us."

Yuki coughed from where she sat and pushed open the side hatch with her feet.

* * *

"Damn, lost the Rabbit too..." Nakajima Satoko growled before turning her attention to the bushes where the StuG had been hidden. "Let's get Erwin and—"

There was a bang behind her and Satoko spun to see a small cloud of dust and smoke rising from the small box on the back of the turret which was meant to store extra ammunition. A divot from a simulated round was in the center of the box and just beyond it sat the Type 89 I-Go, directly behind them. Its commander grinned at them.

"IT'S ON!" Satoko shouted as the Type 89 rumbled past them, firing a second shot that bounced off the Tiger's armor. As it passed in front of the bow there was a sudden ripping sound and Satoko stared as a stream of tracers shot into the Type 89's engine compartment from her tank's bow machine gun. A moment later a white flag popped out of the tank and its commander stared in shock.

"A MACHINE GUN? YOU KILLED US WITH JUST A MACHINE GUN?" Isobe Noriko, the Type 89's commander shouted.

"Well yeah, that thing only has what 10 mm of plate in the back?" Tsubasa muttered from his post before the screech of breaks drew their attention up the slope toward where the StuG III had driven out of cover and pointed it's gun straight at the them. A crack echoed from the 75mm shell rocketing out of the barrel and striking the tank in the gap between the hull and turret, before the distinctive pop of white flag deploying.

"Aww, crap," Satoko muttered.

* * *

Daichi scowled as he glanced over at Anglerfish, his ear tuned to the team frequency. "Oh come on... Every other tank on the team has engaged and not us?"

Erwin's voice filled the radio sets, "Hippo to Anglerfish, Leopon, Mallard, and Rabbit teams knocked out. I'm afraid Shark and Duck were lost in the fighting."

"Understood Hippo, we'll find Anteater." Miho answered.

"All they have left is that Chi-Nu." Kenshin said from his gunnery post. "Maybe they think they're going to be heroes, like on their games."

"They can try, but against us and Angl—" Daichi swore as the KV-1S shook from a heavy impact. He spun to look out the periscopes and gaped as he saw the Chi-Nu, its gun pressed up against the turret. "QUICK ENEMY AT THREE—"

A boom echoed in the tank and the distinct pop of the white flag deploying followed a moment later. Daichi pushed open the hatch to escape the smoke just before a second crack filled the air, and the Chi-Nu, which had been trying to back up and put the KV-1S between it and the Panzer IV was smoking with its own white flag deployed.

Daichi stood. "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? YOU HAD TO HIT US?"

"Hey, ramming works in the game." The girl with Neko ears said as she clambered out of the hatch.

Nishizumi shook her head. "The onboard black boxes don't detect those sort of impacts, there must be a shell fired with a microchip close enough to cause such an impact for the black box to even consider it."

"Aww..." Nekota muttered. "I guess we'll have to remember that."

Daichi swore as his crew clambered out. "I hope next time goes better than this."

"Well, we do have a match coming up this weekend. Saunders has invited us for an exhibition." Nishizumi said before tapping the radio microphone at her throat. "Team One wins, all mobile tanks return to the depot. Everyone else... the Automotive Club will be around to reset the knock-out flags, and then you can drive back."

"Saunders?" Daichi grumbled. "Well, I suppose they won't be that tough... Except they'll have so many Shermans they could actually go to war with them."

Yukari smiled faintly. "Actually, they have eight M4 Shermans, four M4A1 Shermans, six M4 Shermans with the 105mm assault gun, a Sherman Firefly, and an M10 tank destroyer with a Korean War style roof for it."

"Sergeant Oddball!" Saori said and the Anglerfish crew burst into laughter at what seemed to be an inside joke.

"Well, crap." Daichi said. "That's twice the number of tanks we have."

"Don't worry Ego-san, I have a plan." Nishizumi said as she clambered back in her tank. "Reizei, take us home."

Daichi let out a sigh of disbelief as he watched the Panzer IV drive off before Kenshin sat down beside him. "So... you still want to do the Beutepanzer scheme for it?"

* * *

"So, that was fun." Tsubasa said as he opened a storage compartment in the turret which contained the tank's 'black box'.

Hoshino smiled. "Yeah, it was... I didn't know you could kill a tank with a machinegun like that."

"Well, it was kind of obvious... I mean those Italian tankettes Anzio uses have to be able to do something besides get knocked out." Tsubasa said with a grin. "I think you might even be able to knock a Tiger out if you hit the floor, there are stories of pilots doing it in World War II with .50 caliber machine guns."

"That's good to know." Hoshino said. "Maybe I should use the coaxial more than... good job, anyway."

"Thanks, now let's get these things fixed." Tsubasa said with a smile.

* * *

_Author's Note: Originally I was going to have the KV-1S being named Mr. Crocodile, but it didn't really feel right with the Crocodile being a type of tank used by St. Gloriana, oh well._

_Yes, an MG34 loaded with armor piercing ammunition can punch through the Type 89 I-Go's side or rear armor. In fact, if the Saunder's Sherman had been closer… their .30 caliber coaxial gun could probably pierce its armor in the Saunder's match._

_After checking online… the M2 armor-piercing round is rated at around 13mm of RHA penetration at 100 meters, the same for the 7.92mm __Patrone 98 Sm.K.H. that would be what the MG34 Panzerlauf on the various German tanks would use. The Type 89 I-Go's thickest armor is 17mm and thinnest is 6mm, meaning machine gun fire to the side or back will probably penetrate, unless at ranges greater than 500 meters. Maybe using that machine gun wasn't so crazy on Alisa's part._


	3. Saunder's Shermans

_Author's Note: Saunders, the great American Stereotype… Well, here we go, an actual match._

_Disclaimer: Girls und Panzer is the property of Actas._

* * *

**CHAPTER 3:  
Saunders's Shermans **

The week passed quickly for the Ōarai Sensha-dō team. For Akio and the crew of the Shark, the after school team training sessions became something like an apprenticeship for them with their master being their equivalent on the Anglerfish. Senmonka Masaru sat in the tank at the gunnery range, slowly going through the motions of learning the gun and it's foibles with Isuzu-san sitting at the loader's position, explaining each step and double checking his work.

Reizei-san worked with Hayate, teaching him a few of the tricks she'd learned and how she'd drifted the Panzer IV in the final match of the championships. The Panzers, it turned out, were rather difficult to drift thanks to the lack of rubber on their tracks, and really could only manage it on wet roads or the slick conditions of sand or wet fields. Compared to the Panzer IV, the Panzer III/IV was certainly faster and worked better with a more aggressive driving style.

Saori and Kenji spent more time flirting and gossiping then actually teaching each other much. The radios in the tanks were usually replaced with more modern varieties, and while the bow machine gun was present on each tank, neither of them had ever learned to actually fire it.

Yukari would drill Heishi in the proper technique for loading shells, and even Akio was impressed when he saw the gangly looking girl heft a 75mm round and slam it into the tank gun's breech without even a grunt of effort.

Then there was Nishizumi-dono. Akio found that she was an almost inexhaustible supply of information. While Yukari could list off the capabilities of a tank's gun, its armor and weak points, Nishizumi's knowledge was of a more general and more applicable sort. She knew things like, how to choose a fighting position, how to read the dust clouds of an approaching tank force, and perhaps most importantly, how to analyze a tactical situation and react properly.

Miho took the other tank commanders aside after almost every practice to work a bit on those facets of being in command.

For the other team of newbies, there really wasn't anyone to share experience with them, as the Russian tank was quite foreign to the older teams. Alligator team therefore proceeded on a trial and error basis, and the Model Club dug through online records and various different sources to find how to operate their tank. The Cyrillic gauges and symbols were translated, and the various oddities of Russian tanks began to make themselves known to the crew.

Their gunnery however remained poor, thanks to a combination of poor and likely misaligned scopes, an inaccurate gun, and general inexperience.

But they weren't alone in that regard, Anteater team's continuing problems with learning the difference between their video games and real tanking plagued the team. It took three days of gunnery practice before Hana clambered into the Chi-Nu and discovered why the tank persisted in landing shells hundreds of meters short of the target.

Apparently, it never occurred to them that the video game's gunners compensated for bullet fall automatically and they never adjusted the sights for range. In frustration, Miho had taken one of their laptops, booted up the game, and began to tell them how things were different.

The five members of Anteater team had watched in astonishment as Miho had obliterated an enemy team of gamers, while muttering to herself. "You can't drive this fast with a real tank... The guns reload slower than this in the real world... Why isn't anyone using a machine gun, or smoke, or... You're not driving the tank like it has an automatic transmission are you?"

It was probably the single most passionate moment Akio had witnessed from Nishizumi, and after winning the random battle with every award under the sun, she'd flushed brightly as the Gamers crowed about her prowess.

Afterward, Anteater finally began to show some signs of improvement.

After the training sessions, Akio walked home with Nishizumi quietly talking about other subjects. The auburn haired girl seemed to be quite an enigma to him. Even before the team she seemed so quiet and rather nervous. She was approachable, especially for the other girls, as she didn't seem to be so 'high and mighty' or intimidating. Akio guessed it was this ability to seem so 'normal' that made her such a good team leader. She was certainly competent, and the other girls certainly trusted her judgment, but it was something she'd earned after they'd learned the dangers of ignoring her.

It was during one of those moments when he wondered at her abilities that Nishizumi stopped by the side of the road and looked curiously up at him.

"Akio-kun, I wanted to thank you."

"Hmm?"

"After Kuromorimine and the last year at Ōarai, I didn't know if I could get along with boys that well. I never really interacted with them that much, being a Nishizumi and all..." Miho glanced away. "In my family, the boys really don't mean much... My mother runs the family and really dominates over my father, and we girls are the ones that keep the name going even."

"I understand, the Nishizumi name means a lot in Sensha-dō, and for the name to continue in a female sport like that would require something like that." Akio shrugged. "The Sakai name means a lot in Sentōki-dō, or it did anyway..." He sighed. "Miho, what are you trying to say?"

Miho flushed slightly. "I just wanted to thank you for being my friend."

Akio stared at her in surprise. He hadn't really thought about that, and had naturally been friendly to her as they were neighbors and teammates after all, but he'd never really thought of it as a friendship. It made him wonder just how low the bar had been set for being Miho's friend.

"Miho, you didn't have many friends growing up, did you?" Akio asked quietly.

"No, sensha-dō made me a bit... unpopular growing up." Miho said quietly. "Akio? We are friends, aren't we?"

"Yes, I suppose we are." Akio said and Miho smiled at that. "If you wanted to be my friend, all you had to do was ask!"

Miho gaped at him. "Really?"

"Really."

* * *

The elder Sakai sat back as he looked from his fellows on the Sentōki-dō Aces Authority board to the collection of women that stood opposite them from the Sensha-dō Federation. The two groups, divided by gender stared at each other for a long moment before the women moved to sit down at the opposite end of the long meeting room table.

"We, the Sentōki-dō Aces Authority would like to formally congratulate Kuromorimine Girl's High School in its acceptance into the Sentōki-dō Authority League." Sakai said as he looked at the stern face of the school's patron, Nishizumi Shiho. "As well as St. Gloriana Girl's Academy and Chi-Ha-Tan School, we would also like to congratulate the Sensha-dō Federation on the dramatic increase in interest in their sport after the last Championship." Sakai smiled and took a sip of his tea. "I believe a number of our member schools have already petitioned for acceptance into your Federation."

Shiho's face gave not a hint of emotion as she nodded, "We thank you for your words, Sakai-sama. A large number of schools have petitioned for entry into the sport, no doubt the belief that the sensha-dō championship is more open to contest then before has encouraged them." Those last words were said with a hint of bitterness, and Sakai cracked a smile at her expression.

Lady Grey, the blonde woman who had served as the Headmistress of St. Gloriana's for the last ten years leaned forward. "Nishizumi-sama, the defeat of your school has led to an expansion of the sport. Surely this is a good thing?"

"Grey-sama, the participation of such schools as Ion Dumitru, Népe Boarding School, and Mt. Zion in this Federation may be beneficial, but that does not take away from the fact that tradition is being trampled upon—"

"Nishizumi-sama, I suggest you reconsider your words." Sakai stated coolly. "I have been searching for years as to whom you remind me of, Nishizumi... and I believe, at last, that I have figured it out." Sakai leaned back in his seat and sighed. "You, Nishizumi, are much like my superiors in the war. Clinging to tradition and seniority, believing themselves to be the ideal of our world, and all the while leading our nation to its own destruction."

Nishizumi gasped and a number of the other women in the room recoiled in shock while Lady Grey sipped at her tea. Then she stood up and snarled. "HOW DARE YOU!"

Sakai leaned forward again and stared at the woman with his single good eye. "How dare I? I dare speak the truth. What right does your school have to being the champions? What woman in their right mind plans to disown their own daughter for winning?" He stood.

"You, you plan on disowning Miho, Nishizumi-san?" One of the other women asked in clear surprise.

Lady Grey set her tea cup on its saucer and frowned. "Whom is more honorable, the daughter or the mother?"

"She does not adhere to the traditions of sensha-dō and the Nishizumi School! It is my right to discipline my own daughter. She even has men on her team now!"

Sakai glared at Shiho. "I would remind you, Nishizumi-san, that one of those men you speak so ill of is my grandson."

* * *

"WHAT DID THEY DO TO THAT KV-1?" Tsubasa said when he stopped before the massive hulk that was the KV-1S. Instead of the familiar Russian green, it's hull had been painted German dunkelgrau, a color that looked like the result of mixing 'panzer grey' with a can of black paint. If that wasn't enough, its hull had then been striped with German woodland brown, giving it a rather predatory look.

The Ōarai symbol emblazoned on its side seemed to fit a bit better than simply painting it on the Russian green.

"It's a Panzerkampfwagon KW-1S now." One of the Model Club members said from the top of the tank.

"Isn't that the 754(r) version?" Another of the club asked.

"I think this one is the 757(r) or something... The 754(r) is the KV-1C." Another of the model club said.

Tsubasa swore under his breath. "This is as bad as that Galland special..." He turned and walked away from the tank and headed over to the Tiger (P), which the automotive club had clustered around, "It's not like it'll really help in the middle of a battle to have it painted different."

"Hey, Tsubasa... Daichi told us there's an upgrade around for our tank." Hoshino said as she sat atop the front hull and looked down at the smooth front face of the armor with a picture in her hands. "Apparently the only one of these that saw combat had the Elefant tank destroyer's plate armor welded to the front..."

"It'll double the front armor's strength." Satoko said as she stared at the drawings. "But it'll also make the front ugly as hell."

"I don't think looks matter that much in this... that Jagdpanther shot straight through our front in the finals." Hoshino said. "Of course, those Tiger IIs should have as well."

"They were out of the armor piercing ammo probably." Tsubasa observed before glancing at the tank in the pictures. "We're not going to paint it like the 'real' one are we?"

"Nah... That sort of historical stuff we'll leave to the model club." Hoshino said with a faint smile. "The smoke mortars work great. I wish we'd thought of them for the championship match. They are standard on the Hetzer, Panzers, and StuG III. I wonder why we never used them before..."

"Who knows?" Tsubasa said.

The tanks had been put through their paces for the last few days, rumbling out to the firing range as the crew practiced their gunnery, and onto the maneuver grounds for formation and tactics. All of it was rather standard fare, until night fell. Nishizumi-san had decided to take each of the tank commanders after practice and work them through a strategy session, as the match with Saunder's loomed.

"Where is Nakajima-chan?" Tsubasa asked.

"Last minute strategy meeting, I think." Hoshino said with a shrug before looking at the pictures. "I think the armor club on the ship might have this kit... we could weld it and adjust the transmission for it tonight, and be ready for battle tomorrow."

Tsubasa smirked. "Now that sounds like a plan."

* * *

Akio sat at the small table in Nishizumi's apartment, flanked by every tank commander on the team, Momo, and Yukari, who Akio had started to figure was Nishizumi's 'intelligence' officer for lack of a better term. She knew everything that could be known about tanks, and could instantly list the strengths and weaknesses of almost any tank from memory.

Nishizumi glanced at the map of the Saunder's battlefield and let out a sigh. "With ten of us, the team has become too large to manage by myself. As you know, I'm not particularly a fan of the drilled approach used by teams such as Kuromorimine. Some, I know, call it the Nishizumi-school, but that does not mean we will be using this method of organization. Instead... we will be breaking the team into smaller units of roughly equal capabilities, each with its own leader and chain of command."

Momo coughed. "These teams will be called Zug I, Zug II, Zug III, and so forth..."

"Zug is the German word for a Tank Platoon," Yukari supplied.

"Zug I will be myself and the Shark. Zug II will be our Tank Destroyers, the Hippo and Turtle. Zug III will be the Anteater and Duck. Zug IV will be Mallard and Rabbit team. While Zug V will be Leopon and Alligator," Nishizumi said. "Yukari, could you relay what you know about the Saunder's school line up and their approach?"

Yukari smiled at that and spread out some pictures on the table. "As the older members of the team are familiar, I infiltrated Saunders High School before our first match, and got some information on their lineup. They currently have nineteen separate Sherman tanks. Eight of which are the M4 Sherman with the low-velocity 75mm gun. This is the same gun as is used by Mr. Rabbit. It can't penetrate any more than 88mm of armor at point blank range, and its effectiveness rapidly drops as the range increases. I would say against most of our tanks it won't be effective much beyond five-hundred meters. Four more of the tanks are equipped with M1A1 76mm main gun. This gun has a maximum penetration of 192mm of armor plate at point blank range, and can engage any of our tanks except the Leopon at up to two-thousand meters. Then there is the six 105mm Howitzer equipped tanks that Saunders has. Those tanks can penetrate up to 93mm of armor plate at any range with HEAT rounds or bombard an area with explosives."

"And then there's the M10 and Firefly." Nishizumi said.

"The M10's performance is roughly equal to the 76mm equipped Shermans while... the Firefly is in a class of its own. It can penetrate up to 221mm of armor plate at point blank range, and over 150mm of armor plate at maximum range." Yukari said. "It's probably the most dangerous of all our opponents."

"So, how do we beat them?" Daichi said from where he sat. "They have numbers and the Firefly."

"We go against conventional wisdom, there's no way we can win a direct force on force confrontation, and they'll swarm us... as that is likely their strategy." Nishizumi said. "Instead we split our forces, forcing them to divide themselves to engage us, or allowing us to surround them if they attempt to gain the advantage by swarming one of the Zugs."

"Historical tank doctrine tends to advocate tanks being no closer than fifty meters from other members of their formation. I noticed most of our opponents tend to be much more tightly spaced then that." Daichi said.

"With twenty tanks, they will likely fall back on their American theme and deploy their tanks in platoons of four." Yukari said. "All of their tanks have at most 76mm of armor, except the Firefly which has 83mm of armor on the front. Our StuG, Hetzer, Panzer III/IV, and Panzer IV can engage them at up to a thousand meters distant and defeat their armor, or up to two-thousand meters if we can hit their sides."

"I don't know if any of our gunners can hit a target two-thousand meters away, Yukari." Akio said. "A thousand, okay maybe... but twice that? Not so much."

"The Leopon can defeat them at any distance, at least." Yukari said and Satoko smiled faintly at those words. "Unfortunately, the Duck, Mallard, Alligator, and Rabbit are much less capable..."

"They have to get really close for Mr. Rabbit's guns to punch through..." Sawa Azusa said with a frown. "We only manage 71mm at one-hundred meters with the turret and 88mm at the same distance with the main gun. We also only have 51mm of armor at our front..."

"46mm at one-hundred meters with the turret," Sodoko said. "45mm with the main gun, at least we have 60mm of armor."

"91mm, I really wish I had a better gun." Daichi said before shrugging. "Hey, Anzu, if I switched the gun to a 75mm KwK 40, would it cut costs? I mean, I know it's possible... the Germans did it with captured tanks."

Anzu blinked before shrugging. "I would have to ask Chishiki-san."

"The benefits better exceed the expense of purchasing the gun." Momo stated. "But we don't have time for that anyway."

"No we don't." Nishizumi agreed before turning to the map spread out before her. "Now... here is the plan, the battlefield we'll be meeting Saunders is the same as the one we fought them at before. This ridge... will be the heart of our defensive position. We'll spread out along the ridge line with our weakest tanks, Zug III and Zug IV will be in the woods that are on either end of the ridgeline, where they won't be spotted that easily. At our center will be Zug V, with the Leopon. Daichi, I want you on the reverse slope to guard Satoko in case she gets overrun. Zug I will be to two hundred meters to the left, along this fold in the hills. Akio, Hana says your gunner is getting good enough to hit out to a thousand meters so you'll be up next to us, firing directly at the enemy. Zug II, will be two hundred meters to the right along the ridge line. Anzu, Erwin... I want you in hull down positions. You should be able to engage them at up to a thousand meters as well. Once they see us on the ridge, I expect they'll throw everything at us or attempt to flank us through the woods where Zug III and IV will be waiting."

Akio stared at the positions penciled onto the map. "If they fall back and attempt to flank us?"

"We'll improvise." Nishizumi smiled faintly. "We're good at that."

* * *

The next morning the Ōarai Academy Ship slid slowly into port, it's bulk dwarfed by the massive Saunders Academy Ship moored at the other side of the harbor. Akio and Nishizumi woke up early that morning, and Nishizumi ran off muttering about waking Reizei again. Akio just shrugged and headed to the sensha-dō tank depot, where the assembled crews were gathered. The Anglerfish was gone by the time they arrived and Akio clambered aboard the Shark. He flipped open a map of the maneuvering ground that would be their battlefield as the rest of the team got ready. A full load of shells was loaded for each gun.

It was nearly half an hour later that the Anglerfish returned with its assembled crew and a rather sleepy looking Reizei in the driver seat. Miho clambered out the commander's cupola and stood on the turret. "Good morning everyone! Today, we are going up against Saunders... We beat them last time, but this time the rules are a bit different, so everyone should do their best!"

Slowly the group rolled out. Driving to the disembarkation ramps and heading off toward the meeting place that had been marked on their maps. Fifteen minutes later, they found that Saunders had once again put out a display of their fiscal strength with dozens of trucks filled with various wares, foods, and other supplies. The blonde haired senior, Kay, stood atop an M8 Greyhound as they approached and waved to Yukari. "SERGEANT ODDBALL!"

Nishizumi giggled as Yukari sighed. A moment later a rumble filled the air as Kay clambered off the Greyhound and grinned. Then twenty Sherman tanks of various types rolled into view. The eight M4 early models were just as Yukari had said, as were the six 105mm variants, and four M4A6 Shermans with the 76mm gun. There was the dark green Firefly and then, instead of an M10 Tank Destroyer, another Sherman rolled up, with a huge rack of rocket tubes mounted to the turret.

Yukari gaped, Nishizumi winced, and Saori swallowed.

"A T34 Calliope!" Yukari gushed and began bouncing in her tank excitedly.

Nishizumi swallowed. "Now is not the time for a Panzer High."

"Is that even legal?" Akio asked from the top of his Panzer.

"Sure is!" Kay said happily before leaning against the side of the tank. "We had to have something to deal with the Maus, you know!"

Nishizumi sighed and glanced over at Yukari. "I was hoping you'd go easy on us this time Kay."

"Go easy on you? You're national champions... think of it as training for Kuromorimine next year!" Kay said with an exuberant smile. "You thought I'd only bring ten tanks again?"

"Not really, I just hoped." Nishizumi said with a shrug before clambering out of the tank.

"Well you upgraded, I needed to bring my top game!" Kay said before nodding to the other nine tanks. "You still have the Type 89!"

"Yes, well... We're a poorer school." Nishizumi said with another shrug. Slowly the crews disembarked and shook hands beginning their pre-match rituals. After fifteen minutes the two teams separated, loaded up, and headed for their starting positions.

Nishizumi tapped her throat radio as they rolled off the starting line after the starting signal. "We stick to the plan, except I want all the tanks to increase their spacing as much as possible. I don't want that Calliope to be able to catch all of our tanks in one spot. Understood?"

"Hai!" The teams answered and Nishizumi took a deep breath before opening the commander's hatch and poking her head out. The whole team roared toward the ridge in the distance as fast as they could.

* * *

For those watching the match on television, it quickly turned somewhat confusing as pairs of tanks turned away from the drive toward the ridge and spread out. The airborne cameras had trouble catching more than two of Ōarai's tanks in their viewfinders at a time. On the Leopold screen, the spectators watched as they saw the Saunders Team spread out into three platoons of four tanks, a battery of assault guns, and the two unique tanks that moved from formation to formation. The Saunders team began to probe forward, spreading out trying to make contact with the enemy.

Maho sat in the back row of the spectator stands beside her mother, a stoic look plastered on her face as she saw her mother's face tighten each time she glanced toward the front rows. After a moment Maho caught sight of an older man with an eye-patch sitting in the crowd, and realized he was the target of her mother's ire.

Slowly Maho sat back and nonchalantly turned her attention back toward the board as the Saunders team began to advance toward the ridge line, spread out nearly a mile looking for their enemies. Erika folded her arms over her chest and scowled. "These Ōarai matches, they never fight directly."

"No, they do not. Miho's school lacks the strength for a direct conflict. Instead they must rely on guile for victory." Maho said before glancing at her mother. "It requires more skill to defeat a strong enemy with a weak force then defeat a strong enemy with a strong force."

Her mother's scowl deepened at those words and Maho closed her eyes. "It may not be the most honorable approach to fighting, but it is the only path Miho has toward victory."

* * *

A slight breeze set the trees behind Miho into motion, and she could feel the wind tug at her auburn hair. Beside her, Akio was laying down with his binoculars to his eyes. He glanced at her before laying his binoculars on the ground. Then she lifted hers to her eyes and frowned. The boxy shape of four of the olive drab M4 Shermans appeared from the trees at the base of the hill. "I see them."

"That's them?" Akio asked before lifting up his binoculars again.

"I see four Shermans." Miho said as she keyed her radio.

Akio frowned and studied the dust cloud from the tanks before saying, "Yes, I'm surprised they haven't deployed more of them."

Miho smiled and glanced over at him. "They've spread out, trying to find us... We should be fine dealing with the four of them here, on our own."

"Right, shall we?" Akio asked as he clambered up into a crouch.

"Hai!" Miho said before turning and running toward her tank, sitting behind a slight fold in the terrain. She clambered up onto it before dropping into the command hatch.

"Hana-chan, Shermans, one o'clock, one thousand meters... Wait until I give you the signal." Miho said.

Yukari hurriedly loaded a 75mm round into the gun's breech as the turret began to rotate.

Saori turned to her. "Keibiin says they're ready!" Miho nodded and glanced toward the grey shape of the Shark rumbling to life, watching its gun lift toward the distant Shermans. She saw Akio watching her and raised her hand to signal to him. As the turrets of both tanks settled on their targets she took a deep breath.

"FIRE!" She yelled as she dropped her hand and the two KwK 40 75mm L/48 cannons roared almost at the same instant. She watched two tracers arc through the air toward the olive drab shape of the Shermans. Through the binoculars she saw the blast of smoke and flames from two hits and the lead tanks slid to a stop, their white flags deployed. The other two moved forward, around their wrecked comrades, gunning their engines. The distant boom of their 75mm guns answered and she saw dust clouds mark where the low velocity shells had fallen, well short of them.

"Reload, next target!" Miho shouted in her soft voice, as she heard the clatter of the empty casing fall to the bottom of the turret.

"Gun ready!" Yukari said.

"Firing!" Hana stated before the concussion of the second shell hurtling from the barrel of their cannon washed over Miho. She stared as the second round dropped through the air to meet its next target, smashing into its side. The boom of the Shark's cannon followed a moment later and she saw the shell miss its target by the mere centimeters, before plowing into the dirt behind the Sherman.

The Saunders tank reversed and backed away from the group before another cannon boom filled the air and Miho watched a shell slam into it's side causing it's white flag to deploy.

* * *

Maho gaped as the announcer called out. "Saunder's first platoon, destroyed."

"Such accuracy..." Erika muttered. "They, they didn't even have a chance."

* * *

"Hoshino, you rock!" Satoko said from the cupola of the Tiger (P).

Inside the tank Hoshino smiled as the expended round from the 8.8cm gun clattered to the turret floor. She glanced down to see Tsubasa give her a thumbs up.

* * *

"NANI?" Kay shouted as she listened to the first platoon get knocked out. "Is anyone in first platoon operable?"

"Captain, they shot us from the ridge... They're hitting us at a kilometer range!" One of the tank commanders stammered. "We could barely even see them!"

"Impressive, tell Alisa the locations... we'll shell them." Kay answered.

* * *

Miho lowered her binoculars after a moment before tapping the radio. "Same-san, Reopon-san, switch positions. Prepare for artillery fire."

"I assume we'll move as well." Reizei said as she put the Panzer IV into gear.

"Of course," Miho said while Yukari opened a side hatch and tossed out the two expended shell casings. Then she slammed it shut.

The Panzer IV slipped out of view as it moved back beyond the ridge a dozen meters and started to redeploy as the distant boom of the Saunder's team's 105mm Howitzers began to fill the air. The boom of shell impacts filled the air as the tanks waited for the shelling to stop and for them to be able to resume their positions.

* * *

"We don't see anything!" Alisa grumbled as she stared through the periscope at the now dust covered ridgeline. A moment later she glanced at the radio controls and growled. "Kay, I'm not seeing anything on the ridge! They must have pulled back or something."

"Right, well... fire a smoke shell and we'll start the advance again. Second platoon: split by section and cover command platoon's advance. Assault guns and Calliope: be ready to bombard the crap out of them." Kay ordered. "Naomi, find a good spot to watch our attack and engage anything that tries to stop us."

"Right."

Alisa scowled as she glanced down at the loader. "Load 'Willie Pete' for the last shell."

"Right..." The loader grumbled as she lifted the massive 105mm shell into the gun's breech.

* * *

Miho sat in her tank, waiting when the radio crackled to life once again. "Miho, this is Duck, they've fired a smoke screen... It looks like they're advancing now."

"Hai, Mako, back to the firing position."

"Right," Reizei said in a board tone as she put the tank back into gear and rumbled forward.

"All tanks, to firing positions, prepare for close contact." Miho ordered.

* * *

Maho watched the screen, her fingers tapping her leg nervously as the Saunders tanks rumbled forward, eight spaced out in a rough line similar to the tactics she'd employed in the championship match. Behind them, the six assault guns, rocket launcher, and Firefly sat waiting for an opportunity. On the screen, she saw that the individual units that made up the Ōarai team were moving back to their firing positions.

* * *

In the lead tank of the command platoon, Kay stared through the periscope at the clouds of drifting smoke. To her sides she could see the rest of her team's combat tanks advancing up the hill. As they entered the smoke, it seemed to quiet as the tanks slowly began to scan the area ahead for targets.

"JESUS!" One of the tank commanders yelled before a huge boom filled the air and Kay looked up to see a flash to her right.

"Contact left! HETZER!" Another voice called out before another bang filled the radio channel.

"Rock, Watchdog! Report!" Kay yelled.

"Rock is disabled..."

"Watchdog, we're immobilized."

"They're everywhere!" Kay's gunner shouted.

Kay scowled. "No, they're spread out on the whole ridge! Command platoon, double your spacing and gun your engines. If we can get to the ridgeline we can outmaneuver them."

"Second platoon, what about us?"

"Advance!"

* * *

Tsubasa blinked as he stared through the MG34 Panzerlauf's periscope at the clouds of smoke before them. Behind him, he could hear the Tiger turret turning as Hoshino searched for more targets. Through the radio, he heard Miho giving commands to the other teams, telling the Zug III and IV to advance on the flanks of the enemy and keep out of sight while Zug I, II, and V engaged.

"Target, directly ahead!" Satoko shouted, and Hoshino twisted in his seat as he swung his machine gun toward the apparent enemy. Overhead he heard the turret grind through its traverse.

A long barreled Sherman rumbled through the smoke and there was a crack as its gun fired, sending a shell ricocheting off the newly reinforced 200mm thick front hull. Then the turret lined up and a boom echoed in the compartment as an 88mm shell slammed into the Sherman, knocking it out.

As the empty shell casing hit the floor, a second Sherman lumbered into view, its engine roared as it climbed past them, aiming to get over the ridgeline and behind them for a kill shot. Hoshino was cursing as she tried desperately to keep the Sherman in her sights before a second crack sounded from behind them and Tsubasa heard Ego Daichi whoop as the Sherman's white flag deployed.

Then a boom echoed in the tank and Tsubasa heard the white flag deploy.

* * *

Naomi blew a bubble as the breech of the 17-pounder main gun chucked out an empty casing and started scanning for another target as the smoke began to clear in places.

* * *

"Leopon has been knocked out." Miho heard Satoko say. She scowled before glancing over at where the Shark should have been in the smoke.

"Miho, I just bagged another short barreled one." Erwin said. "It's time to roll them up, I think."

Miho nodded and tapped the radio at her throat. "All units: Advance... Zug III and IV turn to the center and engage!"

* * *

Maho stared in shock as the airborne cameras caught sight of the rest of Ōarai Team. She gaped as the Type 89, Type 3 Chi-Nu, M3 Lee, and Char B1 Bis appeared from the forests on either side of the ridge line and turned inward toward the smoke cloud. Even the 57mm peashooter on the Type 89 could damage a Sherman at point blank range in the rear, and now the three remaining advanced tanks in Saunder's team were being surrounded by the Ōarai Team.

Erika beside her was similarly gaping at the screen as Ōarai's tanks rolled into the smoke clouds. "What the hell are they doing?"

* * *

Kay swore as reports began to come in from the rest of her tanks, while she peered through the smoke clouds. Her simple plan, to move up and engage the numerically inferior foe now lay smashed before her. The smoke curtain her team had laid out was turning against her and made artillery spotting impossible, taking her 105s and T34 Calliope out of the equation.

In the corner of her eye she saw something in the smoke and shouted, "Movement, three o'clock! Gunner!"

"On it!"

"Kay, what the hell is going on? I need orders!" Alisa's voice shouted through the radio.

The crack of a 17-pounder shell going overhead filled the air and there was a flash behind her before Naomi's cool voice came through the channel. "Kay, I just took out their Type 89, it was behind you!"

"BEHIND?" Kay shouted before spinning around to see a massive form roll into view directly behind her tank. She gaped as the 75mm gun of a Char B1 bis pointed to her engine deck and she kicked the driver. "ROTATE! ROTATE!"

The boom of cannon shell filled the air and the Sherman shuddered for a moment. She gaped as she saw that her turret was still moving, despite flames rising from the engine deck. Then a second shell, this one from the Char's top turret, hit the engine deck. Smoke filled the compartment and Kay heard the tell-tale pop of the white flag deploying.

She slumped and a slight smile played across her face, now these were champions... She put the radio to her lips and took a deep breath. "This is Kay, I've been disabled. Fire the Calliope into the smoke, everyone else... fall back and defend the artillery. Alisa, take command."

* * *

Saito swallowed as he heaved a 75mm shell into the gun breech of the M3 Lee's main gun. All around him, the girls were shouting and he could hear bangs from the top turret going into action.

Azusa shouts from the top turret echoed through the whole tank as she issued commands. "Sherman, one o'clock. She's running!"

The M3 Lee rocked as the driver yanked the controls, turning the tank sharply toward the Sherman. Saito stepped back as Ayumi let out a squeal of delight before pulling the trigger.

The M3 bucked as the 75mm casing shot from the back of the gun and Ayumi let out a whoop of glee. "Got her! Got her!"

"Awesome!" Azusa snapped. "Rabbit to Miho, Sherman knocked out!"

* * *

Alisa gaped as she heard the tanks reporting in and started counting them off on her fingers. "Twelve! That's twelve tanks they've knocked out!" Her eyes were wide and the rest of the tank crew looked at her suddenly remembering her breakdown from their last match with Ōarai. She grabbed the radio. "EVERYONE FIRE! FIRE INTO THE SMOKE!"

Outside the T34 Calliope lined up it's sixty rocket launch tubes to the center of the smoke cloud, now augmented by the billowing clouds of black smoke from knocked out tanks. Then it began to fire, hurling the 144mm rockets like a swarm of buzzing bees into the ridgeline and what little that could be seen of the ridge disappeared behind the volley of ordinance.

* * *

Miho yanked shut her command hatch and winced as the crump sound of rockets detonating all around her filled the air. Yukari looked like she'd gone white and even Hana seemed a bit disturbed by the onslaught of the rocket barrage. Still she listened to the radio channel, worriedly.

"This is Turtle, I think we lost a track!" Anzu's voice came through the radio despite the barrage.

Then after fifteen seconds that seemed like fifteen minutes, the explosions stopped. Miho cautiously pushed open her commander's hatch and glanced out at the battlefield. "Everyone, alright?"

"We're okay..." Akio said in a voice that seemed a bit shakey.

"Leopon and Duck team are knocked out. Turtle lost a track... We have seven mobile tanks to their eight now!" Yukari said suddenly. "And they're almost all artillery!"

Miho's eyes widened before she tapped her radio. "EVERYONE ATTACK!"

* * *

Akio swallowed before kicking Hayate. "Lets go, we'll take on the Firefly."

"If the Firefly gets a bead on you, do not be afraid to pop-smoke. Anteater, you can take the lead. Everyone! Advance!" Miho ordered again as the tanks surged into motion. Through the perisocpe Akio could see the hulking KV-1S roll over the top of the ridge and gun it's engine. Everwhere else, tanks surged into motion as the Shark rumbled down the hill in the smoke.

The occasional random shell from the 105s sent up clouds of dirt and smoke, but the winds began to thin it as they advanced. Through the forward perisocpe he watched as the T34 Calliope jettisoned it's launcher and rushed forward, firing it's 75mm gun.

"HALT! Target, Calliope, five hundred!"

The treads squeeled at the sudden stop, while Heishi swore as he loaded a shell into the breach as Masaru lined up the shot. A second later there was a boom as a round arced through the air and slammed into the T34's front mantlet. Black smoke poured from it's engine as it's white flag appeared.

"Cease fire, Hayate, advance... Zig Zag."

"Hai!"

Another shot echoed across the hillside and Akio watched as a round from Erwin's StuG III slammed into a 105mm Sherman, knocking it out. Other shots rang out as the Anteater slammed to a stop with artillery shells landing all around it. It's gun swung toward the nearest Sherman and fired, sending the round into the front hull knocking it out.

Then there was the crack of the 17-pounder and the StuG III disappeared in a flash and a cloud of black smoke.

"I see her! Target: Firefly, dis-" His orders stopped as he saw a tracer arc through the air and collide with the Firefly. For a moment, Akio thought the shot had missed before a belch of black smoke spilled from the tank and it's flag popped out.

"Nice shot," Akio said before glancing toward the Anglerfish and it's smoking barrel. "Isuzu-san."

* * *

Alisa whimpered as she watched her force reduced to a mere four 105mm Howitzers. "Reverse, fall back to defense positions! We can't match them force on-"

There was a ping as a round glanced off the gun mantlet and she shivered. "What was that?"

"M3 Lee, two o'clock!" The gunner said.

"WELL SHOOT BACK!"

* * *

Miho watched as the four remaining Shermans reversed, trying to escape. Their guns fired non-stop, sending shell after shell whistling past their targets. She calmly popped her head out her hatch. "Akio-san, Hana-chan, you may fire at will."

"Aye, Nishizumi-dono," Hana answered as Yukari grinned. The few tanks that remained armed with the L/48 guns sighted in on their foes as the panicked and Shermans fired on the move, sending their shots wide. Overall, Miho knew that if Leopon, Turtle, and Hippo were still in action the enemy wouldn't stand a chance.

The Alligator, Anteater, and Mallard teams were racing toward the retreating Shermans, eager to get into ideal range for their weapons against the artillery pieces. Miho heard the clatter of a shell being loaded and smirked to herself as Yukari called. "Ready."

Against a team organized like Kuromorimine, the team that Kay had fielded would have been a decent counter. Kuromorimine used tight packed mutually supporting formations that had been drilled into the team with set formations and responses they practiced over and over again. The Calliope would have torn such a formation apart, forcing it's component units to scurry for cover. Volleys of HEAT rounds from the 105s would have fallen on the lightly armored roofs of Kuromorimine's Panzers. Even the Maus wouldn't be able to survive a hit to the engine deck.

All of that had been countered simply by spreading her ten tanks out. Artillery wasn't meant to be accurate: in fact most artillery was designed to have a certain level of inaccuracy so that it could saturate an area with bombardments of shells. Like with a shotgun, having too tight a grouping could at times be a drawback.

The Panzer IV fired and she watched the shell arc through the air to catch another of the Sherman artillery pieces. To her left, another shot arced through the air from the Shark, hitting the ground just before one of the retreating Shermans. A pair of bangs from the front drew Miho's gaze and she smiled on seeing the Rabbit had hunted down another of the Shermans and delivered a swift one-two punch from it's guns. Another crack had her gaze sweeping over to the KV-1S as it charged down the hill, and she watched the shell ricochet off one of the Shermans while the Anteater swung around to one side and pumped a round into the tank's side armor.

Only one Sherman remained and then, Hana fired again. Miho watched the shell fly through the air and strike the front hull of the Sherman. It sputtered for a moment before it's white flag deployed.

A gentle breeze rolled down the hill side, carrying away the last of the smoke as Miho pushed the transmit button again.

"That's the match... well done."

* * *

Alisa slumped as she waved away the thick curtain of smoke that filled the compartment of her tank. "We lost... again!"

"Cheer up Alisa-chan..." Kay's voice came through the radio speakers. "We lost to the Champions!"

The freckled girl felt tears well up in her eyes. "It doesn't make me feel better!"

* * *

Shiho sat straight backed as Sakai applauded with the rest of the Ōarai supporters. Beside her Maho's stoic expression seemed to crack and Shiho felt her anger begin to rise once again.

_How dare her! Miho had used guile and deception, turning her enemy's own smoke screen against them to allow her weaker tanks to inflict losses on the enemy. Clearly, Miho should have lost, and yet... she had done more than win. She had swept the field, only losing three of her tanks and having but one immobilized temporarily by rocket fire._

Sakai's clapping drew her attention once again and Shiho's lip twitched in anger. "I would not call that an honorable victory."

"No, I'd call it a good show." Sakai said as he stood. "I will go congratulate my son..."

Shiho sneered. "We're leaving Maho."

"Yes mother."

* * *

Akio stared in surprise as Kay walked up to Miho's command tank and clambered aboard. As the small timid Miho climbed out of the hatch, Kay offered her hand. "Good match."

Miho flushed. "It would have worked against another school." Then she took Kay's hand and flinched as the boisterous blonde pulled her into a hug.

As Kay released Miho, she laughed to herself. "So sensitive..."

Miho shrugged as Saori popped out one of the bow hatches. "Hey, Miho? Since we won so fast... can we go shopping?"

"How about lunch first?" Akio suggested from the top of his Panzer.

"Hai, that sounds like a good idea." Miho said.

* * *

_Author's Note: Yes, originally I was going to have an M10 Tank Destroyer in this match, but after a few minutes writing I suddenly thought… 'Is there a rule against the T34 Calliope?' As you can see, this is the result._

_I decided to go with a much more tactically astute Miho then even the anime really suggested. She's more flexible and a risk taker, but she's still not that good with the morale and inspiration parts of being a leader._

_I've decided that Shiho is definitely going to end up a major antagonist, with Miho and Maho caught in the middle and the elder Sakai playing the role of her opposite. So, we've got our first annihilation match, now for some down time and character development…_

_Hmm, who to go up against next?_

_How about an informal Poll: In your review, name which team you want to see next in a match?_

_Anzio Academy (Italy), Azul Academy (Nationalist Spain), Chi-Ha-Tan (Japan), or a New School (Advocate the Nation)_

_Also, this work is now on a monthly schedule… Next Update is planned for Monday, June 24__th__, 2013._


	4. The Way of the Warrior

_Author's Note: Well, I guess some responses to reviews are in order._

_I think many people don't realize just how good Ōarai have gotten by the end of the season. I was bored a while back and decided to find out statistically how good they are, both at the start of the season and the end of the season, so I counted how many shots Ōarai fired during the Saunders and Final match as well as how many connected with their target. The results were interesting._

_Saunders manages to hit around 8% of the time (including some glancing shots that bounced off) during their match._

_In the same match, Ōarai manages to get a 26% hit probability. In the finals, this hit probability increases to over 50%. In training, it looks like Isuzu is very accurate, considering her first shot ever nearly hits the bulls-eye. Then consider that American Gunners in 1944 were expected to take 13 rounds to have a 50% chance of hitting a moving target at 500 meters. Ōarai is good._

_Ōarai's skill is not evenly distributed, of course. I find it ironic that one of their most accurate gunners is on the Type 89, they tend to hit but in the anime, it is never enough to knock out an enemy tank._

_Among their best gunners are Isuzu Hana (big surprise), Kadotani Anzu (instant gun-fu girl), and Sugiyama 'Saemonza' Kiyomi on the Hippo. I suspect Hoshino on the Leopon is also good considering we see she's knocked out two tanks in her last stand defense almost immediately._

_Who is their worst? Well… Momo-chan, obviously, but almost as bad is Ono Aya, the 37mm gunner on the Rabbit. She has like… three hits in the entire series, all of which are point blank range in the finale._

_In the anime, they do use the sort of abbreviated commands you'd expect from a tank crew. You hear Yukari tell the others when the gun is ready (and she uses the proper loading technique, surprisingly… maybe it was in the manual). The reason it seems the characterization doesn't seem so strong in Chapter 3, is because once the fight starts Ōarai is never really doing poorly or forced to do any sort of convoluted plans._

_It turned Saunders into a shockingly short match. Even Kay is totally blindsided, as normally in a Sensha-dō match, fights are more drawn out and usually involve multiple small engagements. Remember her screaming "Why?" when she loses one tank against Ōarai, it's no wonder she loses her exuberance when she loses four tanks in the first minute of combat._

_Saunder's response is classic playbook tank warfare, and is heavily based on American doctrine. They put up a smoke screen and start advancing again to close with the heavier and longer reaching German tanks, Miho then uses the same smoke screen to cover her weakest tanks rolling into the midst of the enemy formation and getting within effective range._

_Isolated in a smoky battlefield, Ōarai's tankers are able to take advantage and defeat the conventional Shermans they're facing, leaving them against the artillery conversions and Calliope, which are basically easy pickings without their conventional armor support, once you survive their barrage._

_Ōarai smashes Saunder's force within minutes, something that would be more expected from Kuromorimine vs. Chihatan or Pravda vs. Bospuru. It's meant to serve as a bit of a wakeup call for the other teams during exhibition season telling them, yeah… them winning the championship? That wasn't a fluke._

_I'm going to probably have a bit of fun with this, as I've decided that the heavyweight teams will actually be easier for Ōarai to dispatch, with Miho basically looking at the Kuromorimine play-book and turning it on its head._

_Against say Kuromorimine, expect Miho to pull out tricks like using the reverse slope defense to force them into a close in engagement where the formation drill of Kuromorimine works against them. That and skirmishing with the Hetzer… a strategy that worked very well in the championship match. Only the Maus will really require deviousness on the part of Ōarai's team… but in open country, it's extremely hard to use._

_Pravda is a bit more of a challenge thanks to their tendency to use ambush tactics. I am wondering what they have for the remaining 5 tanks. More T-34s? They showed up with 7 T-34/76s and 6 T-34/85s last time. Considering the standard soviet platoon is three tanks, I guess they probably have at least 2 more T-34/76s… Will the remaining 3 tanks be assault guns or is Pravda going to bust out BTs… I certainly would consider fast moving cavalry tanks to fight Ōarai._

_It's the 'weaker' teams that will be more the domain of tank-fu mad shenanigans. Teams like: Blue Division High School, Continuation High School, Anzio High School, and Bosporu High School will be forced to make huge gambles to face off against Miho and stand a fighting chance. As a result, expect both sides to do crazy things in those matches._

_I created a forum so you guys can discuss the matches, lineups, and so forth to your heart's content as well._

_Disclaimer: Girls und Panzer is the property of Actas._

* * *

**CHAPTER 4:  
The Way of the Warrior**

The Ōarai and Saunders students crowded the port stores and restaurants as the Saunders Sensha-dō team surrounded Kay in the post battle meeting room. The old fashioned glass Coke and Pepsi bottles that had been set out to celebrate a victory were untouched as Kay pulled off her jacket and dropped it onto one of the chairs and sat down. All around her, the Saunders team stared at their normally exuberant and boisterous leader with looks of shock playing across their faces.

"I... I guess there's no way around it, they beat us." Kay finally said. "Completely and utterly beat us. I didn't expect them to have much of a chance with annihilation rules." Kay glanced around at the dirtied and disheveled group of girls. She stopped and looked at the short haired girl in the back. "Naomi, you did fine... your gunnery is still top notch. You got their Tiger at least. Alisa... Your decision to pull back and shell the smoke cloud was fine, as without the rest of us you really weren't in the best position." Kay stood up and a slow smile played across her lips. "I can't wait to see how they take on Pravda or Kuromorimine, let's chock it up to a learning experience, and make the best of it, eh?"

Her boisterous demeanor slowly began to return as she spoke and the girls relaxed. On the plasma screen on the wall the computers that had monitored the match began to display tactical information once more, revealing the performance of each tank, how many rounds were fired. As usual, at the top of the score board was Naomi's Firefly with three hits from her cannon.

"Did... did anyone beside Naomi get anyone?" Kay asked as she scanned the display and saw only a single hit registering on the list besides Naomi's three lethal shots with the 17-pounder. It was a detracking hit from the T34 Calliope.

Glum looks appeared on most of the tankers as Kay saw the display switch to the Ōarai High School's lineup with the hit percentage at the top. She gaped.

"Fifty-one percent? For the whole team? What the hell?" Kay stammered. "I thought Sherman guns were accurate!"

"They are." Naomi said with a faint scowl as she scanned the list of tanks. "It's just... they have four, maybe five gunners that are almost as good as me. You do remember that deflection shot Ōarai managed on our flag tank. Some of their tanks may be a joke, but..."

"The people in them are good." Alisa admitted.

Kay shrugged as she pried the cap off one of the bottles of Coke and sat down. "Well, I guess that means more gunnery training! Get a Coke and relax. If you think we did bad, just wait until Ōarai takes on Kuromorimine again?"

"Hey, let's put on the Championship match, Kay! I want to see that Maus buy it again!" One of the girls said and Kay smiled.

"Sure."

* * *

Akio laughed as he sat around one of the largest tables in the McDonalds that the group had found in town. The Ōarai sensha-dō team had gathered in the odd and rather foreign restaurant. It was typical that Saunder's home port would feature such an American restaurant, and already he'd heard the model club talking about getting a massive Dominos pizza before the Ōarai left port.

Tsubasa sat along with his crew and club-mates, talking about the newest cars at one end of the table, with the rest of the team crowded around the table with their food. Overall, the group was ecstatic on their victory. Yukari admitted to being about ready to faint when she saw the Calliope roll up to much laughter from the group, too much laughter from the group.

Miho remained quiet in the midst of the happy chatter, drinking her Yassai Seikatsu as the girls around her talked and laughed. Akio shrugged slightly at that, but he almost jumped as a heavy hand fell on his shoulder and he looked up to see the worn face of his grandfather standing behind him.

"Ojiisan!" Akio stammered in surprise.

"If you had been an American pilot, seventy years ago..." He chuckled slightly at that and glanced around the table. "Well done on your first match, Akio." His one good eye roved over the collection of high schoolers for a moment before a chuckle came from his lips. "Are these all your friends?"

"Some of them... the team is so big, it's hard to know everybody." Akio stammered after a moment before shifting his chair to the side. "Do you want to join us, Ojiisan?"

"I really shouldn't, but... If I can survive the occasional American formal dinner, I should be able to survive a McDonald's meal." He said before waving his hand slightly toward the food. "If you could open up a little space..."

Senmonka immediately shifted over and Akio moved his seat over before collecting another seat for his grandfather. Slowly he settled into the seat and glanced around the table. "I do not think I've been this crowded since I was last in a fighter cockpit." He said with another chuckle.

"Sakai-san, are you going to introduce us to your grandfather?" Miho asked quietly.

Akio swallowed before nodding slightly. "Yes, I am... this is my ojiisan, Sakai Sab—"

"SABURŌ, the gekitsui-o? The flying ace?" Yukari stammered.

"Please, it has been many years since I shot anyone down," Sakai said. "I prefer a bit of gardening these days."

"Sakai-sama." Miho said before bowing slightly. "We're most welcome to have such an honored guest with us, but why are you—"

"I am just here to congratulate Akio, and his friends. I must say I'm glad to see such positive results from my deal with the Sensha-dō Federation, so soon." Sakai said as he glanced at the boys which had joined the club and smiled. "Even if I had to fight tooth and nail for it..." His gaze turned to Miho and his smile grew even more. "And you must be Nishizumi Miho, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Th-Thank you." Miho said timidly.

"Yes, it's a pleasure to meet the only person beside myself to drive Shiho into a rage on such a regular basis." He chuckled to himself.

Miho paled dramatically at those words and seemed to wilt before Akio's eyes. "Mother is most demanding."

"She should not be, to expect one's children to follow exactly in your footsteps is folly. My name may mean a great deal in sentōki-dō, but I cannot fault Akio for his decision to avoid it." Sakai said before glancing at Miho. "Nor can I fault my daughter for making a life for herself in America. Nor, should your mother have put you at fault for saving the lives of that tank in last year's championship. Sensha-dō is not war, it is a sport."

Miho glanced down at the table and her auburn hair seemed to hang like a curtain around her face. "Okāsan, disagrees."

"That it is not war or that you were at fault?" Sakai asked.

"That I am at fault, that I should not have-"

Sakai scowled. "Miho-san, if you excuse my informality, as saying Nishizumi-san seems wrong in this case. Miho-san... What do you think? Do you feel dishonored?"

"No..." Miho said. "Shamed, but not... dishonored."

"And you should not. Even if sensha-dō was war, the first and most important thing for an officer is to concern themselves with the safety of his or her command. So, you abandoned your panzer to save the life of five young girls trapped in their sinking tank? You were a hero. In a war, in another nation, you would have been award a medal."

"Hontō?"

"Yes."

"What do you mean by 'in another nation', Ojiisan?" Akio asked.

Sakai shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "In my time as a pilot I shot down fifty planes, fought in more battles then I can count. I never earned a single medal, and didn't earn a commission until my eleventh year of service."

"Not one?" Yukari asked in surprise.

"No, not one," Sakai shrugged. "It doesn't matter." Then he glanced at Miho. "You should know that Shiho fought against allowing boys into sensha-dō very fiercely. Carius and Greengold have been pushing for allowing men into joining for decades, but it is only in the last few years that the International Sensha-dō Federation began to allow it, resistance has been stiffest here, with older families like Nishizumi's fighting the hardest."

"But, wasn't Kuromorimine one of the schools that wanted into the Sentōki-dō Aces Authority?" Yukari asked.

"It was, and the petition was backed by Nishizumi Shiho. A bit of negotiating got them to see my point of view, if they wished to be in the Sentōki-dō Aces Authority, they had to reciprocate." Sakai smiled. "Shiho tried to block it, but... her arguments seemed much less sensible in the light of their application."

Akio nodded. "You think she will take out some of her anger at the situation on Miho? She didn't set the rules for boys being allowed on the Ōarai team."

"She is still angry at me for disobeying the Nishizumi School of sensha-dō." Miho said quietly. "Victory at all costs, force upon force, discipline against discipline, even Maho is more flexible then okāsan in her approach."

"Maho is what Shiho wishes you to be, the obedient daughter." Sakai said before giving a slight shrug. He glanced at the assembled group. "You know, sensha-dō was very different when she was in it."

"What do you mean?" Miho asked.

"Well..." Sakai smiled. "Sensha-dō started in the 1920s, if you may remember... It started as racing with tankettes and other similar vehicles. In the 30s it became... more martial, and it began to be turned into a means by which to promote military prowess. I remember as a boy watching the sensha races, and then the first sensha-dō matches. That was before there was simunitions and the carbon coating, so they used blanks. Judges crowded the field and had to determine if a shot was a hit, if it penetrated and so forth. This made it a rather complicated and convoluted, so matches became more like budō meets are, a sort of performance. Judges would determine after the lot had shot off their ammunition what tanks had won, and so forth."

He smiled. "My first wife was very involved in sensha-dō, and joined the female auxiliary tank corps of the home islands during the war. After it ended and Japan demilitarized, sensha-dō's administration and judging was taken over by the American occupation forces for a time."

Sakai sighed, "It wasn't like sentōki-dō, where the old aces took over the administration of the sport. They couldn't as the sport was meant for women, and most of the aces were men. Perhaps the soviets had some women in their tank forces, but I never heard of them going into sensha-dō."

"We had similar problems, as there was no way to determine if a plane was shot down, so we fell upon old training techniques to determine the victors in sentōki-dō matches," Sakai smiled at those words. "The Americans also took over the sport here for a time, but as the international events began to form, they quickly relinquished control."

"My first wife died in 1954, three years after the American occupation. She had spent much of that time trying to modernize sensha-dō. The addition of radio communications allowed judges to tell tanks when they were knocked out mid match, and turned it into something akin to a war-game." Sakai chuckled. "I remember seeing white banners painted with numbers on each tank so they could be named by the judges. The idea of limiting the era for sensha-dō came along at roughly the same time, as nations began to classify the capabilities of their tanks and guard those secrets. The war in Korea taught the sentōki-dō community that modern fighters use in dogfighting as a sport was far more difficult and we followed a similar rule."

"I grew old, and flew competitively for years. As a result, I had to keep myself in better health as a result, and I still flew occasionally until a few years ago, when the doctor told me not too, after a heart attack, anyway... things stayed that way until the late 1980s when American technologies that were developed for military training made their way into the sports. Lasers and computers replaced the blank shot and the judge for a few years, but around the same time interest in sensha-dō dipped, I believe Ōarai stopped their program around that time. In sentōki-dō, the system was immensely successful as a plane could easily be retrofitted with laser sensors and a smoke discharger. In sensha-dō, it was just as successful and a blinking light was first added to the tanks, along with a white flag for hits that were thought of as 'kill shots' for shells of sufficient caliber to destroy the tank."

"Ten years ago simunitions first arrived, and sensha-dō took to them immediately, turning the sport into a much more spectacular display. The onboard computers combined with simulated rounds could now accurate predict if a round penetrated or glanced off, if a tank was disabled or not. Pyrotechnics and the effect of the simulated rounds replaced the flashing light marking hits, and the white flag remained marking whether a tank could continue battle. In sentōki-dō it's taken longer to develop simunitions that would not damage the airframe, as most of our planes are not armored, and some even use wood and canvas, but we have them now." Sakai glanced at Miho. "Shiho spent her high school years in a sensha-dō without computers that could tell when a tank was destroyed, when the only way to defeat an enemy was to make it clear to a judge that they were superior with a volley of shell fire and a frontal charge. It's not the same sport it once was."

Sakai focused on Miho and smiled. "Simunitions turned it from a performance art of sorts into an actual sport with clear rules for victory and defeat. In this scenario, it is not the tightly drilled precision maneuvers of Kuromorimine that will emerge victorious, but the team that improvises and finds ways around the strengths of their foes. Teams like yours Miho-san."

"Hai..." Miho said timidly.

"Akio, you did very well for your first match, even with you only being able to practice for a week or so. I'm proud of your performance." Sakai said as he glanced at his grandson.

"Thank you, ojiisan."

"I think what Nishizumi-sama has forgotten is something of great importance." Sakai said carefully as he looked at Miho. "Be it sentōki-dō or sensha-dō, our... sports, our martial arts are in many ways a form of budō. As panzer crews or pilots we are learning the ways of a modern form of warfare. We are training young warriors."

Miho's eyes widened slightly and she stared at Sakai.

Sakai set his cane down atop the table, and then he let out a long sigh. "Tell me, what is your older sister planning to do after the summer season?"

"She is joining the tank school... Just as mother did," Miho said quietly.

"Of course, she is going to be a tank officer, a leader of men and women in the defense forces, much like your instructor." Sakai said slowly. "Akio's father was a part of the JSDF as well. He was a fighter pilot. His mother... well, she has always been involved in sensha-dō. You have told her, haven't you Akio?"

Akio swallowed. "I... I did, but she's been so busy with the Unlimited Clubs..."

"Hontō?" Yukari suddenly burst out. "She's in the Unlimited Circuit?"

"She's a coach," Akio said quietly.

"What's the Unlimited Circuit?" Reizei asked in a confused voice.

Miho smiled slightly, "It's a form of sensha-dō that's popular in America. They don't have the limits to tank modification or era that traditional sensha-dō has. Akio, is your mom American then?"

"Hai, as is my uncle-in-law..." Akio said before shrugging.

"You really should talk to your mother more often Akio." Sakai said and Akio nodded after a moment. "Yes, well... as I was saying, our sports are both... ways of the warrior, you might say. I have, especially since the war, felt there are many ways for a warrior to make his way in life. I remember as a child being pushed by my parents to remember my ancestry, as we Sakai's were of the old Samurai class, but... they were not soldiers, they were farmers for most of their life. Of course with the establishment trumpeting the old bushidō code, basing the entire nation around it in many ways... I was doomed to join the military at some point." He chuckled at that. "After the war, well... there suddenly wasn't a place for soldiers in Japan, was there?"

"Sometimes I miss it, not the fighting, or the idiotic punishments of officers, I miss the comradeship," Sakai said and Miho suddenly seemed to perk up. "I had many friends in the Tainan Kōkūtai, all gone now. I think, for those of us that fought, the sports that followed were a chance for us to keep the comradeship alive. I know that for Otto, Günther, Chuck, Johnnie, Ivan and the lot that pushed for the sport in their countries did. Miho-san, why did you take up sensha-dō again? Was it for comradeship? Or some duty?"

Miho flushed as she glanced at the table. "I wanted to be with my friends."

Sakai smiled. "And that is what makes you different from your mother."

* * *

In sensha-dō clubs aboard Academy Ships throughout the Pacific Ocean, captains and teams studied the latest match between Ōarai High School and Saunders College High School. Most had thought the battle that would follow would be one, which would see Ōarai finally going down in its first defeat since St. Gloriana had faced them. When the after action statistical reports and other information began to come in as well, many of the captains began to rethink their strategies for facing the school in an annihilation match.

While Shiho seethed, Maho walked down to the depot, which held the tanks for their team. Most did not really think much about how large an investment Kuromorimine had put into their Sensha-dō team. Most teams had little more than twenty tanks in their inventory, the same however could not be said for Kuromorimine, with nearly a fifty separate tanks in the depot. Most had not been deployed, as tournament rules limited the number in each match, the same limits did not exactly apply in exhibition and annihilation matches.

As Maho walked along the line parked tanks, she pursed her lips in thought. Essentially Kuromorimine operated two separate tank teams. One was the junior team, with its Tiger Is, Panzer IIIs, and lighter equipment. The other was the senior team, with the Maus, Jagdtiger, Jagdpanther, Jagdpanzer IVs, Panthers, and King Tigers. In the last tournament, the junior team had been fielded against their first opponents, defeating them easily. The Chi-Ha-Tan team had been almost laughable fielding seven of the Chi-Ha medium tanks in a single attack, which had been handily crushed by their team. It wasn't until the semi-final against St. Gloriana that the senior team had been deployed, utterly demolishing St. Gloriana in a match that had left no doubt about the strength of Kuromorimine.

Then, they had lost to Ōarai.

Maho did not begrudge her sister's victory; Miho had long ago made her position within the family precarious enough in middle school. She fought for different reasons then Maho, for comradeship and friendship, and for her school's very existence. Maho fought for the family honor of being a Nishizumi, she fought to please her mother, and she fought because it was expected of her.

Soon Maho would leave for the Military Academy and join the tank corps, as was expected of her, but the one thing that had not been expected from her was defeat. She knew it in the way her subordinates glanced at her as she walked past and how Erika had strutted about and mocked Ōarai before the match. Of course, there were those on the team that had agreed with Miho's decision in the previous championship, especially the one member of the Panzer III crew that had remained in sensha-dō after the accident in the river.

"Maho-chan!" A voice called out and Maho stopped to see Shuryō Pansāko wave to her as she stopped in front of the Jagdpanther.

Maho stopped a nodded to her, "Pansā-chan, you look eager."

"Hai, I'd like to get another chance at Ōarai after the championship," Pansāko said before she clambered down off the Jagdpanther.

Maho nodded once before glancing over at Erika who was berating a couple mechanics that were working on her King Tiger. Then she sighed and glanced back at Pansāko. "I take it you have not seen the most recent match then?"

"No, I haven't..." Pansāko said with a frown. "It was Ōarai verses Saunders, wasn't it? Is it over already?"

"Hai, it is..." Maho said before she walked over to the Jagdpanther and frowned slightly. "Saunders brought a team meant to counter ours... It did not go well for them."

"Ōarai won?" Pansāko gaped. "But... they only have eight tanks, don't they?"

"Ten, they added two more to the line up... a Panzer III/IV and a KV-1S." Maho stated flatly. "Miho spread her forces along a ridge and ambushed their lead elements, destroying four Shermans without a loss. Then Saunders shelled the ridge and deployed a smoke screen. While they advanced, Miho slipped her weaker tanks into the smoke screen. By the time it was over Saunders had lost all twenty of their tanks while Ōarai lost only three of theirs."

"A wipeout," Pansāko said quietly. "Ōarai is performing better than expected then."

"Yes, Miho is doing well." Maho said quietly. "She's found her own way to do sensha-dō, and the team she has assembled performs well despite being encumbered with lesser tanks."

"It will be a fierce battle when we face them again... Erika-san will be most upset if she loses to them again." Pansāko smirked slightly. "And I would prefer it if I don't get detracked twice next time!"

"That goes without saying." Maho stated. "I will not go easy on her, but I think... I think I will adjust our request for a rematch. I want to put both teams through them."

Pansāko arched an eyebrow. "Both? But why?"

"I wish to see if smaller, faster tanks will function better against them." Maho stated. "Moreover, both teams would do well for some more field experience. Our gunnery in the championship match was not up to our previous standards."

"I only fired twice in the entire match." Pansāko muttered.

Maho nodded, "You did well Pansāko, getting your tank back into action after being ambushed twice and detracked is a lot of work, it was your tank that eliminated the Porsche Tiger, after all. It is the rest of the team I am not exactly happy with."

"So, do you have a plan for next time Hauptsturmführer?" Pansāko asked.

Maho nodded and glanced at the far end of the garage where a Fiesler Storch sat. "Yes, I do."

* * *

Akio swallowed nervously as he stood at the bottom of the boarding ramp for the Ōarai. Most of the girls had disappeared in all directions. They were going shopping, out to eat, gossiping. His own tank crew had disappeared as well, and he'd seen Tsubasa ogling some brand new cars with the rest of the auto club. But they hadn't all left.

Miho stood looking surprisingly alone and left out. It clearly wasn't that they weren't her friends, but something else. Left to her own devices, Miho really didn't seem to know what to do when none of her friends had invited her along. So, Akio found himself standing on the dock with her, alone.

It was rather sad, and almost pitiable in Akio's mind. Miho simply didn't have many interests outside sensha-dō, and she was too shy to ask to go along without an invitation. So here they were, waiting to get back aboard the ship.

"Akio? Did you really understand what your ojiisan was talking about?" Miho asked quietly.

"Not really, but then he's so old now..." Akio said before smiling faintly at her. "I do know he has a lot of friends in the United States, you know... the eye patch? He's even friends with the guy that did it."

Miho stared at him. "He... He is friends with the man who shot him?"

Akio shrugged. "Friendly at least."

"I don't understand, not really..." Miho said. "But I think I understand what he meant by comradeship. I had a lot of fun in sensha-dō during Middle School. It was where I first really made friends." She sighed. "Kuromorimine was different, I tried... I really did, but everyone was looking up at me, expecting me to be like Maho. To be Nishizumi-san, the great tanker and... No one wanted to get close, I didn't have any friends and..."

"And then there was the championship match." Akio said.

Miho nodded. "I wanted out after that."

"I understand, it sounds awful. I'm glad you got the girls out." Akio said.

"What should we do, Akio? I don't exactly know what you like to do for fun or if you'd even want me to..." Miho trailed off as the line of people on the ramp shuffled forward.

"I really should Skype my mother..." Akio said with a groan before checking his watch. "It'll be pretty late there."

Miho floundered for a moment before asking in a rather timid voice, "Can I talk to her? I always wondered about the unlimited form of sensha-dō."

"I suppose, she would probably like to meet my team captain." Akio said. "I don't think she follows Japanese sensha-dō that much, so she might not know much about you."

Akio was surprised that Miho actually seemed please by that fact. "Really?"

"Really," Akio said. "She's an American, Miho, and a professional coach. I really doubt she'll have heard of you, well... unless she decided to look you up after I joined the club."

"Oh, I am just surprised, is all... I know that my name is pretty well known here, and thought it was well known elsewhere." Miho smiled sheepishly. "Perhaps it is better this way. She won't have any preconceived notions about me."

* * *

Anzio Academy wasn't a small school by any means, nor was it a extremely large one either. It's ship was roughly the same size as Ōarai's, complete with a small neighborhood and enough space for the sensha-dō team to practice. At the moment that team was going through drills, and it's Captain, Anchovy, watched from the top of gunnery's range's observation tower as the tanks of her team maneuvered their way through the exercise area, blasting away at practice targets, or doing formation drills.

She scowled as she watched the tanks skid to a stop before the practice range and begin to work servicing their targets. It was the team's 'medium' platoon made up of one Fiat M14/41 command tank, two Fiat M13/40 medium tanks, and two of the Semovente 75/18 assault guns. The boom of shells filled the air and she watched the five tanks struggle to engage the five silhouettes that sat out a five hundred meters distant. After the targets finally fell Anchovy sneered with disdain and she slapped her pointer against the guard rail.

"Again Cacciatora! By the time you'd have hit them, Ōarai would have wiped you out!" Anchovy shouted at the small blonde girl that was poking out of the hatch of the M14/41. "Do it until you can hit them after only two shots, and then I'll let you move on!"

"It will not matter if your strategy works, Anchovy-san." A familiar voice called from behind her, and Anchovy spun to the girl who held a clip board.

"Ōarai will fall before my strategy, Cappacio... so long as Cacciatora-chan's people can learn to shoot straight!" Anchovy huffed. "But, we should allow for alternate contingencies. Parme-san has finished her maneuvers and additional training with the newly issued equipment?"

"Hai... the tankette commanders will be complaining of bruised shoulders. The Solothurn are painful weapons to utilize," Cappacio said. "The other weapons shall function effectively, so long as we can lure the enemy into your chosen battleground. I am concerned with the terrain you have chosen."

"I have told you, Cappacio-chan! The only way to defeat Ōarai will be to divide them, seperate out their best tanks and overwhelm their scattered forces one by one!" Anchovy growled before swatting the railing again. "I will not be defeated by Nishizumi-san again!"

"I am only expressing concerns as my position as your vice-captain should, Anchovy-san. We shall crush them this time. I doubt even Ōarai will anticipate your strategy." Cappacio said.

"I cannot wait to see their expressions," Anchovy said with an evil chuckle. "Everyone will know I beat Nishizumi, the champion team." Her gaze hardened as she looked down at the tanks on the gunnery range. "AGAIN CACCIATORA!"

* * *

Miho glanced around Akio's apartment as he busied himself setting up the laptop. It was clean, at least, but it didn't really look like a home. Akio hadn't really gone much beyond the bare essentials in furnishings. There was a table with a few folding chairs, a bed with what looked like a blanket made from scraps atop it, a few pictures, an alarmclock, a television, a computer.

It was, in retrospect what she expected from Akio. He didn't seem the sort to have anything really special in his apartment. Akio didn't talk that much aside for his apparent friends, Tsubasa and Senmonka. Instead he simply seemed to exist.

Miho glanced at one of the few pictures that stood beside the bed and pursed her lips in thought. There was a little boy in the picture flanked by two adults. One looked a bit like an older version of Akio, aside for a slightly softer looking face. He was smiling at the camera flashing the victory sign clad in a green flight-suit decorated with the JSDF emblem. The boy was laughing while the other adult held one of his hands. She was a blonde woman with curly hair that fell about her shoulders and bright green eyes.

_Was it Akio?_ Miho asked herself as her gaze caught moved on to the background and her breath caught as she noticed the tarmac runway behind them and a green plane with JSDF emblems sitting just behind them. Curious, she picked it up to examine it closer.

"Yeah, that's me... Mom hasn't been the same since that was taken," Akio spoke over her shoulder making Miho jump in surprise.

Miho nodded and set the picture back down. "What happened?"

Akio grimaced. "That was the day of the accident."

"I'm sorry," Miho said quietly.

Akio sat down and took a deep breath. "It's... hard sometimes. That day, I mean we all thought we were at the top of the world. Dad was flying an A7M2 Reppu and utterly demolishing the other team. Everyone thought the team was going to get an Olympic Gold, and Dad was flying that plane... and the landing gear failed. He just went off the runway and... he hit a fuel truck," Akio swallowed. "A spark from the magnetos started a fire with him still inside. What ammunition was left aboard cooked off and no one could get to him. He... died."

Miho stared as tears filled his eyes.

"He was screaming, and there was nothing I could do. I wanted to help, but I was five... no one could get to him." He wiped his eyes and stiffled a sob. "I still have nightmares, it's been ten years and..." Akio shuddered. "Mom, she... she couldn't take it living here without him, so we went back to the States."

"I still have nightmares about the last tournament finale," Miho admitted quietly. "But... I can't imagine watching that."

"I can't get on a plane without... getting nervous, panicking. That's why I never went into sentōki-dō. I can't..." He glanced up at her. "I didn't mean to burden you with this, just... forget I said anything Miho."

Miho nervously put her hand on his shoulder. "Sakai-kun, it wasn't your fault."

"I know..." Akio said before pulling her hand off and letting go. "Thanks for listening... You wanted to talk to my mom."

"Hai, but... if it isn't a good time," Miho said quietly.

"It's fine, I really should call her more often." Akio said as he sat down behind the computer and brought up Skype. "Hopefully she's not busy."

A moment later the blonde haired woman appeared on the monitor and smiled slightly. "Akio! You finally remembered to call me." She said and Miho smiled faintly as the woman's green eyed gaze flicked up toward her. "Who's that?"

"My name is Nishizumi Miho," Miho said quickly with a bow to the camera.

"Oh come now, Miho... I'm American, there's no need to bow. It's a pleasure to meet you... I'm glad that Akio finally found a girlfriend." The woman answered and Akio choked.

"MOM! Miho-chan's not my girlfriend... she's my sensha-dō team's captain," Akio snapped back while Miho blushed crimson in embarrassment.

"Really? Wait... Nishizumi? Are you related to that bat that Shiho, Saburo gripes about?" Akio's mother asked.

"She... is my mother," Miho said in a very quiet voice.

"It's okay mom, she makes Shiho as mad as granddad does," Akio said with a grin.

"Really? Well, I guess she can't be that bad then," Akio's mom said. "So... how'd your first match go?"

"It was a wipeout mom, despite being outnumbered two to one we demolished them," Akio said. "Miho's a great captain. She won the tournament against Kuromorimine."

"Really, I'll have to look up the match." Akio said. "Oh, and Miho... you can call me Rebecca or Mrs. Sakai if you're really feeling formal."

Miho nodded once, still trying to process the American. After a long moment she swallowed, "Umm... Akio said you were in the Unlimited Circuit? What is it like?"

Rebecca grinned widely at that. "Oh, have I got a treat for you then..."

Miho gaped as Rebecca Sakai leaned forward on her desk and another window popped up on the screen. "You know sensha-dō has all sorts of rules, tanks must have been produced or designed before August, 1945... Or all the components for the tank must have existed before then. I think that's how some teams have gotten to use tanks like the G-13 version of the Hetzer and..."

"Ano... our Hetzer is the G-13 variant," Miho said as she flushed slightly. "The upgrade kit for it was cheaper."

Rebecca laughed at that. "Yes, not that I consider using that tank cheating, mind you... If someone brought a P.1000 Ratte into a sensha-dō match, that I would call cheating. Anyway... Those rules only apply to traditional sensha-dō, in unlimited... well, we're unlimited. Of course, it's not easy with the government classifying everything left right and center about their normal tanks." She shrugged. "So... yeah, on the team right now we've got a K2 Black Panther that we've been tweaking out... replaced the standard 12-cylinder diesel with a Pratt & Whitney F135 gas-turbine, which gives us up to 16,000 horse power. With the unique suspension on the K2, the tank can go almost anywhere and we haven't had it throw a tread despite being able to hit over 200 miles an hour or accelerate to 60 miles an hour in 4.8 seconds. It's so fast we had to install racing seats and four point harnesses to the thing."

Miho gaped as she finally converted the units in her head. "300 kilometers an hour in a tank?"

"That's the Unlimited Circuit for you Miho. There was a team last year that rebuilt a M24 Chaffee with a jet engine, it blasted around at over 250 miles per hour. Unfortunately... it crashed in their first match, tore its treads apart, blew up the engine block, and basically turned itself into a smoldering wreck. It's a good thing the interior had the reinforced carbon lining and roll-cage installed," Rebecca shrugged. "Oh, Honda's team is trying out a walking tank this year, but it's gotten blown apart in every match so far."

"A mecha?" Akio asked.

A few windows showing other matches appeared revealing a gleaming white mech. "Sort of... Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has a team that's got some experimental 'multiped' tanks. Things that have legs and wheels... Of course, they'd only be legal in Unlimited as they don't have tracks..." Rebecca shrugged her shoulders. "It's fun work... we get to do things no one else has tried with tanks."

Akio chuckled faintly at that. "You really should watch the final match of the tournament, mom. Miho is crazy enough to be an Unlimited Coach."

"You think I'm crazy?" Miho asked quietly.

"Miho, you used a Hetzer to lift up a Maus and as a ramp to get the I-Go on top of the Maus... just to block the turret from rotating to shoot down into the engine block from a ramp," Akio said. "Do you know anyone else that would do that?"

"No..." Miho said as she flushed with embarrassment.

Rebecca laughed. "I really need to see that match then! Anyway... let's talk shop a bit, and maybe Akio will pick up some tips."

Miho smiled faintly at that. Soon the two of them were talking, and Rebecca smirked faintly at her each time she told about one of their previous matches. It was clear to Miho that the woman was smart, and seemed amused by her stories. After around twenty minutes Rebecca leaned forward.

"You know, it sounds like you've had lots of problems Miho, but you managed to work around them. Seriously, a Type 89 I-Go shouldn't even be on a sensha-dō roster. It's an early war infantry support tank, the only thing it could take out very easily would be a tankette... and yet you managed to get so much use out of it. You've only got a few decent tanks in your lineup right now, and you're under half strength... and you're winning. That's just amazing work Miho," Rebecca's grin widened. "So, what's your next match?"

"Anzio High School," Miho said with a shrug. "They don't have very good tanks but... their captain is quite... spirited."

"Well maybe she'll figure out some way to challenge you then, Miho," Rebecca said. "I'll look them up... sounds Italian."

"They are, they even use tankettes," Akio said.

Rebecca snorted. "Okay, maybe not a challenge after all."

"They fought well last time, it was a surprisingly hard match," Miho said after a long moment. "Anchovy, she has a fierceness to her..."

"It's not so much the tank as the people driving it, even in Unlimited," Rebecca admitted. "Do you think your team will be ready Miho?"

A smile played across her lips at that moment and she nodded. "Hai!"

"You look after her, Akio... I'm sure if she's like how I was as a tank commander, she needs someone to cover her back." Rebecca said with a bright grin.

"Yes mom..." Akio said before shaking his head. "We're a team."

"Sakai-sama, umm... I mean Rebecca. One of my tank commanders mentioned converting his KV-1S to use a german 75mm gun? I haven't seen any information on how to do that and..."

"I can look it up Miho, don't worry about it. We Sakai's have your back," Rebecca said with a smirk.

* * *

The boarding ramp for the Ōarai Academy Ship was crowded with people. There were the student's families, business owners who had setup shop aboard, and students. The setting sun cast long shadows over the group as they shuffled aboard forward every few moments.

Tsubasa leaned against the railing and sighed, a slight smirk playing across his face as he glanced at his fellow tankers. Leopon Team stayed together after the match, wandering through town going to mechanic shops, tank fitting stores, and auto shops. He'd been formally invited to join the Automotive Club earlier in the week, and it hadn't taken long for him to fit in with the girls clad in his own oil streaked and grease stained orange jumpsuit.

The five made an odd group, and Tsubasa wondered how many of his old classmates would have been stunned by the four girls that had made up the automotive club. The four were quite different from each other.

Hoshino Kazuko gave off an aura of cool with her dark skin, dark violet hair, and emerald eyes, she was probably the prettiest of the group, at least in his opinion. She was quiet, controlled, and unflappable. In the match she'd sat behind the optics with a cool smirk plastered on her lips as she engaged Saunders. Despite that, she'd also gone out of her way to talk to him, and give him a few pointers in gunnery as he was the only person in the tank beside herself that had a weapon under their control... even if it was a mere MG34 Panzerlauf. Tsubasa couldn't help but be impressed with her. Her skills with the Tiger's gun were exceptional, even if Hana in the Anglerfish still managed to be more accurate, and Sasaki on the Duck team managed to keep pace despite the Type 89's worthless main gun. Outside the tank she was a dedicated mechanic, they all were. It took a lot of effort keeping ten tanks working in combat, especially ones as unreliable as the Leopon.

Aguriko Suzuki was Hoshino's opposite in many ways. She had wild rusty brown hair, a dark complexion, and expressive blue eyes. Unlike Hoshino, Suzuki was excitable, wild, and creative. When one of the tank crews wanted an insignia painted, she was the one that did it... except for the model club which insisted they do such things themselves. As the Leopon's loader that same excitement translated into an adrenaline boosted load time in combat.

In retrospect, Tsubasa realized that he might be onto something. Hana-san, Hoshino-chan, and Anzu... were all both laid back or rather calm people and they were among the best gunners on the team. Yukari, Momo, and Heishi were all excitable sorts, and they were all loaders.

Tsuchyia Keiiko was the Leopon's driver, and she had a quiet confidence about her that seemed to match up well with their tank's commander. It was no wonder that Tsuchyia and Nakajima-san were close friends. Tsuchyia was also something of a workaholic, especially when it came to the Leopon's transmission. Already Tsubasa had seen her show up for class looking half dead after she spent all night tinkering with the transmission.

Then, there was their leader. Nakajima Satoko was confident and had that most important quality for any leader... the ability to get others to share in her confidence. She didn't look like much, at 146 centimeters, flat chested, with short hair, brown eyes, and choosing clothes that made her look like a boy, but... Tsubasa had to admit she was good. After joining the team, he'd watched the championship match again and gaped as Satoko clambered out of the safety of the tank to run maintenance on the Leopon's engine while they were moving. She was brave, and if she seemed a little foolhardy, well... she was a Ōarai tank commander. That was expected.

Hoshino leaned against the railing beside him, holding a bag from the machine shop that had been their last stop. They'd bought new ball bearings and rubber rims for the wheels, as the Leopon seemed to utterly destroy both with irritating regularity. She gave him another of her smirks and glanced at the setting sun. "You have fun Mitsubishi-kun?"

"Hai, but the match seemed almost too short," Tsubasa answered.

"It was short," Hoshino said with a shrug.

"But Guderian!" A voice called from down the ramp and Tsubasa glanced over to see Yukari pushing her way through the crowd followed by Erwin. "Stop! I just said it was kawaii... I should get one for Caesar!"

"They call Yukari, Guderian?" Tsubasa asked as Yukari pushed past with her arms wrapped around what looked like a 75mm cannon round... He frowned after a moment, "Is that a cannon shell shaped pillow?"

Hoshino giggled as Yukari scrambled up the ladder followed by Erwin. Then she nodded. "The history club calls everyone by their 'soul names' or something. Yukari is Guderian... Nishizumi is Rundstedt, I think... sometimes they call her Zhukov."

"Thats... well, odd," Tsubasa chuckled. "Akio better hope they don't call him Paulus or something."

"I think they call Momo-chan, Paulus when they don't think she can hear them," Hoshino smirked at him. "Any plans for after we get these ball-bearings installed."

"No, you have any Hoshino?" Tsubasa asked.

"Sweet potato ice cream sounds good... have you had Ōarai's sweet potatoe ice cream yet?" Hoshino asked.

"No, I'm guessing it's special," Tsubasa said.

Her smirk slid into a grin. "Hai, so... when we're done with this, let's get ice cream, eh Tsubasa-san?"

"Sure, Kazu-chan. That sounds really good."

* * *

_Author's Note: Yes, Shuryō Pansāko is Jagdpanther-chan. In fact, she is still Jagdpanther-chan as Shuryōpansā means 'hunting panther'… or at least I think it does, I really need someone that's Japanese to actually check some of this. XD_

_Anyway, it seems that most people are calling for an Anzio rematch, which I've started planning for. It will be epic, as Anchovy is a 'victory or nothing' type of leader. I figure that instead of beefing up Anzio to make them more menacing (Like replacing loads of tanks with better ones) I'll actually have Anchovy's team of Italian wannabes 'take a level'._

_There is a picture (somewhere, I tried to find it online and couldn't, but I know it exists) of a L3/33 tankette that somehow managed to ramp itself up onto the engine deck of a Sherman Tank. Keep in mind, the engine deck of a Sherman is much higher than say that of… a Tiger._


	5. Anchovy's Anzio Anvil

_Author's Note: I've decided to cut back on my presence on fanfiction to concentrate on some original stories that I will be publishing through Kindle Direct Publishing, so expect updates to be a bit more irregular from this point on._

_I got tired of waiting six months for a response on a short story, or three months for a query response. I also figured that a number of the stories I want to do wouldn't be the sort that wouldn't really be promoted properly by a large publisher as one of my projects is a light novel series._

_Has any American publisher ever done a domestic light novel series? The closest we've come is things like 'A Series of Unfortunate Events'. So, I guess going for KDP makes more sense._

_Anyway, this match up was something that you guys really seemed to be looking forward too. Writing this has been quite a challenge, especially as my muse has deserted me whenever I turned toward this story._

_Stupid muse, she can be so picky with inspiration and drive. Damn it, I wrote 2,000 words for VALKYRIE #1 today so stop trying to make me write more… I know it's awesome and all but I don't want to leave people hanging._

_Back to this story, Miho and her gang are being put up against Anchovy again and she's a wild and crazy twin-tailed fox. Despite all that, Anchovy is going to be hard pressed to just maintain parity for most of this match. Expect her gambles to pay off in some ways, but cost her pretty heavily in turn._

_Miho on the other hand has to combat both the terrain (which is mountainous) and Anchovy. She's almost at Anchovy's mercy as this is Anzio's home port, giving her a major advantage in that Anchovy knows the ground and how to fight on it. Miho's tanks are superior, with the vast majority of the Italian tanks mounting weapons that would glance uselessly off the hull of her Panzer IV, not to mention the Tiger (P). To win, Miho has to draw Anchovy into an engagement where she can use her superior tanks and crews to decisively defeat Anzio. This is hard, considering Anzio will be fighting as a number of smaller separate units to prevent just that._

_So, here we go Ōarai vs. Anzio._

_Disclaimer: Girls und Panzer is the property of Actas._

* * *

**CHAPTER 5:  
Anchovy's Anzio Anvil**

The week passed rather slowly for the Ōarai team. The practices continued on and Miho took a hard look at the team once again, reorganizing the team into more manageable and understandable sections. Four or five separate Zugs made sense with a team of twenty tanks like Miho had once dealt with as the vice-captain of Kuromorimine, but it didn't make that much sense with Ōarai's lineup of ten tanks. Each of which had widely different capabilities. Instead, she reduced it to three Zugs of three tanks with the Type 89 I-go once again assigned the thankless job of scouting.

Miho found that selecting the tanks for the Zugs was troublesome by itself. The number of different factors she wanted to balance was extreme. Shark, Anteater, and Alligator teams were the least experienced, followed by Leopon and she wanted to spread them out amongst the teams. Finally she decided on the teams after a couple exercises.

Zug I would be the Anglerfish, Anteater, and Shark led by Miho in the Panzer IV. Zug II would be Turtle, Hippo, and Alligator led by Momo in the Hetzer. Zug III would be Leopon, Mallard, and Rabbit led by Azusa in the M3 Lee. Duck Team would be detached from the Zug's to act as a scout.

Miho also found her tactics shifting after getting some advice from Akio's mother. For one thing, she began to loosen up the formations telling her tankers that fifty meters was the closest she felt they should be to each other when fighting in most circumstances, except for urban and forest environments.

Akio's mother had also produced a set of blueprints for a German conversion of the KV-1S, though they hadn't had the opportunity to start the modifications.

The day before the match, the ten tank commanders gathered after dark for a final prep and briefing. Momo had stood before the whiteboard listing the tanks that Anzio had fielded before, listing off their abilities to the group. There was a selection of good natured ribbing Duck Team for finally having a chance to knock out some tanks.

Miho spent the night nervously going over various strategies, but it wasn't until the Ōarai pulled into port that she started to truly get nervous. Anzio's home port was on one of the southern islands and as she looked out from the conning tower of the Ōarai, Miho felt her gut tighten as she stared out at the rugged mountains and plateaus covered with woods.

Her nervous anticipation grew as she got a good look at the contour map of the battle area. Her fears were reinforced as the tanks rolled out and she got her first look at the ground itself. In places the ground was extremely rough with twisted and gnarled trees scattered between the bits of rock, elsewhere the trees were so close together that Miho thought that only the Hetzer and Type 89 I-Go would be able to easily go through the woods. As her ten tanks stopped opposite the twenty vehicles that Anzio fielded, Miho began to worry about the mobility and limited visibility.

She looked back at her map and began to chew her lip, trying to decide on a strategy as Anchovy's P26/40 parked opposite her Panzer IV. Miho's stress however began to fade as she looked over at the tanks that Anchovy had before her. There were five of the Italian tankettes: two L3/33s, two L3/35s, and one L3/38 that seemed to be fitted with an improved radio. There were some oddities though, as Miho took a second look at the tanks she noticed that each of the tankettes sported a Solothurn S-18/1000 anti-tank rifle sitting on the engine deck.

Besides the P26/40, Anchovy's command platoon of five tanks included two Carro Armato M15/42 medium tanks and two Semovente 75/34 assault guns. It seemed that Anchovie had decided that each platoon was made up of tanks with similar capabilities. The next platoon she had deployed included a Fiat M14/41 medium tank with an extra radio antenna, two Fiat M13/40 medium tanks, and two Semovente 75/18 assault guns. The final platoon seemed to be made up exclusively of light tanks, though Miho thought the difference in capability between Italian light and medium tanks was rather minor. They had a Fiat M11/39 as the command tank, two Fiat L6/40 light tanks, and two Fiat L5/30 light tanks.

Just about every single one of her tanks could engage the Italian tanks and penetrate, save the Type 89. Duck Team could take on most of the Italian light tanks and tankettes directly and win at least.

Anchovie clambered out of the P26/40, her twin tails falling over her shoulders as she folded her arms over her chest. Miho felt her face fall a bit as she watched the girl tap her shoulder with a baton before stepping off the tank and walking to the space between the two teams. A hot wind from the south blew as Miho clambered off her tank and stepped toward the girl.

Momo joined Miho a moment later as Cappacio, Anchovy's vice-captain stepped up beside her commander.

"We meet again, Nishizumi." Anchovy stated as she stepped forward and grudgingly held out a hand. "This time you will not be so fortunate."

Miho sighed before taking the girl's hand and shaking it once. "Perhaps, perhaps not."

Momo pushed up her monocle before Anchovy turned away with a harrumph and looked toward her tankers. "Ferrea mole, ferreo cuore!"

A cheer came from the Anzio girls as Miho shook her head and turned toward her tankers. Momo shook her head and smirked. "She knows how to motivate them."

Miho nodded before looking at her tankers and smiled. "I don't think we need a motto, do you? Momo-chan?"

"No..." Momo said with a nod. "But it might be nice."

"Perhaps we should make it official..." Miho suggested. "Ōarai!" As the tankers focused their attention on her she smirked. "PANZER VOR!"

* * *

Rebecca Sakai sat down in her couch with a large tub of popcorn and leaned back as the internet feed from Japan's sensha-dō federation started up on her wall television. It'd taken a bit of research to find out how to get a feed of her son's match, but as she watched the tanks roll off their starting position, Rebecca smiled and leaned forward.

It'd been a long time since she'd fought in a match with the classic rules, and it sparked something of a flash of nostalgia. She shook her head and listened to the 'experts' commenting on the match while the ten tanks from Ōarai High School rolled out. She watched as the tanks divided into three platoons with the Type 89 I-Go moving on ahead by itself.

As she watched, Ōarai's coach divided her forces, rolling one platoon down each road that crisscrossed the mountainous countryside, cautiously. Rebecca understood the military maxim behind the action that one should march divided and fight concentrated, but she could see that the Ōarai's coach seemed nervous. This was Anzio's home turf, they knew the ground far better than Ōarai possibly could, and that advantage was one that Anzio was sure to exploit.

Watching the satellite feed, Rebecca grimaced as she watched Anzio's tanks roll into action. The light tanks and tankettes that Anzio possessed spread out amongst the woods and after just a few minutes, she saw that Anzio's light tanks had stopped at a number of peaks that overlooked the roads which Ōarai was having to advance up.

The tankettes converged, rolling toward a steep wooded hill overlooking the middle road which one of Ōarai's columns was advancing up. As Rebecca watched, the tanks came to a stop in a half circle on the hill and their crews quickly disembarked and pulled low hanging branches from trees, dropping them atop their tanks to improve their camouflage. At the same time the satellite showed that each had their commander's hatches open and were bracing large guns atop their tanks.

Rebecca swore as she saw Anzio's medium and command platoons roll out onto the roads heading toward the center. A moment later the camera panned back to the three Ōarai tanks rolling down the road and focused on the Tiger (P) sandwiched between the M3 Lee and Char B1 Bis.

* * *

Anchovy smirked as she pushed her headset against her ear. "Excellent Parme-chan, hold your fire until they're within a hundred meters." She glanced down at the map spread out over the top of the P26's turret as Carpaccio marked the location with a red pencil. "So... They have the Panzers and Type 3 at point BA6. The Porsche Tiger, Lee, and Char B1 Bis are at point BA30, and the Hetzer, StuG III, and KV-1S are at point BA64."

"The scouts have lost track of the Type 89." Carpaccio said with a frown. "The roads intersect at point BM35. We have to engage them before they reach that position."

"True, though I would be satisfied with just immobilizing a few of them far from the obvious rally position." Anchovy said as she glanced back at the map. "Once they are detracked, we will be able to destroy them at our leisure."

* * *

Tsubasa clutched his headset as the Leopon rumbled along the gravel road. Through the viewport he could see Rabbit team just ahead of them. Its commander, Sawa Azusa had her head out the cupola and was scanning the area with binoculars while he watched.

A moment later he heard Miho's voice on the team channel. "Report?"

"Zug II, nothing yet."

"Same here, Miho." Azusa reported.

"Isobe-san?" Miho asked.

"Nothing... Maybe they're already in some sort of defensive position." The leader of Duck Team suggested.

* * *

Parme, commander of Anzio's tankette platoon squeezed an eye shut as she stared down the sights of the massive Solothurn S-18/1000 anti-tank rifle. She took a deep breath before focusing on the M3 Lee rolling in her sights. "Section one: target the Lee, section two: target the Char. Everyone, aim for the engine deck if possible or treads. Wait for my command."

"Roger." The rest of her platoon answered as Parme glanced to her left at the line of tankettes with their guns ready.

"Fire off the whole magazine, and then we'll advance." Parme added after a moment.

"Wakatta."

Parme's finger slowly squeezed the trigger before she gave the command, "Fire!" With a boom the twenty millimeter anti-tank rifle hurled its first shot and Parme winced against the recoil. Through the sights she watched the tracer smash against the top of the M3 Lee's engine deck as its commander dropped into the turret. The round ricocheted off and she growled.

The Solothurn S-18/1000 was rated to penetrate up to 40mm of armor plate at one hundred meters, so long as it was at a right angle. As steep as the hill was, it wasn't that steep. Still the engine deck of the M3 Lee was protected only by a mere 12mm of armor plate. The engine deck of the Char B1 Bis was heavier with 20mm of armor and the Tiger (P) was even vulnerable with a mere 25mm of armor plate for the top of its hull.

Parme snarled and pulled the trigger again after adjusting her aim. Sparks from impacts shot from the side of the tank's hull and one of the return rollers was torn off from a shell. Despite this, Parme watched as the tank's turret swung toward them and a 37mm shell shot out, shattering a tree behind her.

"Keep firing!" Parme shouted as the anti-tank rifle in her hands jumped again.

Three of the 20mm rounds struck the M3 Lee. One blew way the left return roller for the tread, detracking it. Two more struck the engine deck and a moment later black smoke blossomed from the compartment.

* * *

"UNDER FIRE!" Came the shout and Tsubasa grimaced as the bang of rounds hitting the side of the tank filled the air. Beside him, Tsuchyia swore as a round glanced off the side of her viewport. Behind them, Hoshino grit her teeth and slammed the electronic traverse to the left, swinging the massive 88mm cannon toward the hill.

"Load HE!" Satoko shouted as she crouched in her seat trying to get a good look at the enemy.

"Tankettes on the hill," Azusa shouted. "Engaging!"

The turret swung to bear and a moment later Hoshino was elevating the gun, peering through the optics as other shots hit the armor. Then she swore as the gun refused to elevate any further. "I can't hit them!"

Tsubasa swallowed just before the radio crackled again, "The Rabbit's been knocked out!"

"Mallard Team?" Satoko asked as she used her radio.

"We've lost a track. We're a sitting duck here!" Sodoko answered immediately. "Go! We'll try and slow them down!"

"Right, Tsuchyia get past the Rabbit, we'll head for point BM35!" Satoko shouted as the bang of gunfire suddenly stopped. "What?" She turned to peer up the hill and gasped. "GO! THEY'RE COMING DOWN!"

The Tiger (P) jerked as Tsuchyia slammed the tank into gear. Outside, machine gun fire began to ping off the hull as the Besa machine guns mounted to Anzio's tankettes opened up. One of the tankettes rolled past the Char B1 Bis, and its commander hurled a satchel under its hull as she swept past. A second later it exploded, engulfing the Char B1 Bis in smoke.

"Mallard!" Satoko shouted.

"We... we've been knocked out!" Sodoko answered a second later. "It... it was a satchel charge!"

"Anglerfish, Mallard and Rabbit are knocked out! We need assistance!" Satoko shouted through the radio. In his seat Tsubasa bent over the MG 34 Panzerlauf before him and pulled the charging handle. The turret whined as the smaller faster tankettes swarmed toward their tank.

"They're catching up! Tsuchyia, punch it! Hoshino, swing the cannon directly aft!"

"HAI!" Tsuchyia shouted and Tsubasa gaped as the engine suddenly roared and the familiar sound of a turbocharger spun up. Then the Tiger (P) rocketed ahead like an entirely different type of Porsche.

"I HAVE THEM!" Hoshino shouted and a second later the main gun fired with a crack.

* * *

Parme swore as the Tiger (P) roared down the road, and ducked as a massive 88mm round shot over her shoulder and caught one of the rear-most tankettes. With a boom, the high explosive shell chucked the L3/33 Tankette through the air and Parme watched as the tiny tank tumbled, twice before hitting the ground and bursting into flames from the pyrotechnics. The white surrender flags popped out a second later.

"Anchovy, the Porsche Tiger is running, but we're having trouble keeping up!" She shouted before a barrage of machine gun fire from the enemy tank's coaxial gun drove her down into the cramped interior of her L3/38. Salami-chan, her driver, jerked the controls and swung the agile little tankette out of the line of fire as the three others careened to evade the Tiger's line of fire.

"Nani? A Tiger (P) is supposed to be slow!" Anchovy shouted in the radio. "Aim for their tracks, use your satchel charges, disable their traverse, I don't care how, just get it out of the fight!"

"Hai!" Parme-san answered before scowling.

"Parme, I have an idea." Salami-chan said.

* * *

Akio grimaced as the radio reports came in. He glanced at the rest of his crew while Miho's Panzer IV began to accelerate.

"Understood, Leopon. Zug I, follow me to point BM35! Zug II, make haste for BM35 as well. We'll concentrate there!" Miho said through the radio and Akio nodded. "Duck Team, if you can reinforce Zug III. Do it."

"Roger!" Duck Team's commander shouted. "We're on our way!"

Akio stared at Miho in the lead tank, her hand clasped to her ear as she listened to fight. At the same time, he pulled out his binoculars and began to scan the area ahead. The mountain road curved around a cliff about four hundred meters ahead. Then he caught the glint of the reflection of a gun barrel in the sun. His binoculars focused ahead and he swore.

"CONTACT TWELVE O'CLOCK! FIVE TANKS!" Akio shouted.

"Hai!" Senmonka called out and the Anglerfish slammed to a stop in the road. A second later, a volley of five cannon rounds screamed through the air. A 47mm round glanced off the angled front armor as Akio ducked down while a 75mm cannon round connected with Anteater, and it proceeded to burst into pyrotechnics before it's surrender flag deployed.

"Return fire!" Miho shouted.

"Target the Semovente 75/18, range three hundred!" Akio ordered.

"Which one is that?" Senmonka asked as the gun began to elevate.

Akio grimaced as he lifted his binoculars, "The assault gun! Heishi: load armor-piercing!"

"Wakatta!" Senmonka said just a second before Heishi, the loader, said. "Gun up!"

A crack from the Anglerfish made one of the two assault guns before them burst into smoke and flames, and Akio grimaced as a shot from the remaining assault gun blew off one of the pieces of skirt armor.

"Ready." Senmonka said as the turret centered on the second assault gun.

"Fire!"

With a boom, the 75mm shell roared through the air and smashed the assault gun in the gun mantle, tossing it against a tree and sending a plume of black smoke rising from its engine compartment. A moment later its surrender flag deployed.

"Next target!"

* * *

Satoko Nakajima let out a sigh of relief as the tankettes disappeared behind a bend. Already she could hear the engine rattling from being pressed so hard. With a sigh she pushed the radio at her throat, "Tsuchyia, ease off... Find us a hull down spot to catch our breath."

"Hai." Her driver answered and the Leopon slowed. "The engine is running hot now."

Suddenly there was a scream of a FIAT V3 engine caught Satoko's ear and she spun around and gaped as a L3/38 tankette ramped off the small outcropping of rock behind them. The tank dropped onto the Leopon's engine deck with a boom of metal behemoths colliding and its nose slammed into the turret's ammunition box.

"NANI?" She screamed before kicking Hoshino in the shoulder. "Rotate, rotate!"

The turret began to swing toward the tankette, balanced atop the engine deck. As she watched the tank commander's hatch opened and a rather small girl peeked out. As the turret rotated toward them, the girl reached back and heaved the massive Solothurn anti-tank rifle that had been stowed behind the hatch, up to the front. She pressed the muzzled to where the turret and hull met.

The bang of the anti-tank rifle was followed by a shower of sparks from the turret ring contacts. Hoshino ducked down and swore. "The turret is jammed!"

"Damn, Tsuchyia full speed! Shake them off!" Satoko shouted.

"Hai!" Their driver shouted.

Tsubasa swore before grabbing a toolkit from beside his seat. As the tank shuddered and jerked from trying to shake off the L3/38 he unbolted the MG34 Panzerlauf from the mount and pulled it free. Then he pushed open the top hatch and clambered out as the L3/38 began to open fire with its 13.2mm Madsen Machine Gun, sending tracers bouncing all over the engine deck.

He wrapped a rag around the MG34's barrel and stood beside the turret. As the L3/38's commander saw him, Tsubasa smiled at the girl as her eyes went wide.

Then he held down the trigger and sent a barrage of machine gun fire across the front of the L3/38 tankette. Tsubasa felt the scalding heat of the barrel through the rag as he emptied the machine gun belt. With a groan he lowered the gun and stared as the white surrender flag on the tankette popped out.

"Bakana!" Satoko muttered from her cupola before a burst of acceleration finally toppled the tankette from the back of the tank, to the squeals of surprise from its crew of two.

* * *

"Anchovy, we've been knocked out." Parme reported a moment later sitting beside her upside down L3/38.

"What?" She snapped back. "Parme-san, I thought you were better than that!"

"We took a chance." Parme said as she glanced at her driver. "Umm... the Tiger's turret is jammed now at least."

"Honto? Well, I suppose that's something." There was a pause. "The recovery team is on the way, I'll be sending your platoon to reinforce Cacciatora. She's very hard pressed at the moment."

* * *

Miho grimaced as a cannon round knocked off part of her tank's side skirts. Smoke curled from the barrel of her tank as Yukari feverishly reloaded the main gun. The stink of burnt cordite and gun-oil filled the tank's interior as Miho stared through her periscope. The two Semovente 75/18 assault guns were smoking from the volley of return fire from the Anglerfish and Shark. The remaining enemy tanks, a Fiat M14/41 and a pair of Fiat M13/40s had disappeared from the top of the hill.

"Miho-chan, this is Zug II we are two minutes from point BM35. Is the Leopon still enroute?" Momo's voice came through the radio.

Miho frowned. "I believe so, Satoko?"

"We are heading that way, but... our turret has jammed!" Satoko answered. "Miho, I'm sorry!"

"Miho, we've been engaged!" Momo shouted.

There was a crack as the Italian tanks returned, firing from hull-down positions atop the hill. Miho grimaced, everyone was fighting now.

* * *

Anchovy grinned as her tanks rolled out of the woods in a rough line, smashing down a set of thick pines as they did. Standing on her seat she smirked at the formation of three tanks which had been running down the road before her. "Quattro and Cinque will engage the KV! Due and Tre will engage the Hetzer! We shall engage the StuG!"

The KV-1S shrieked as its treads locked and the tank skidded to a stop. Its turret began to track toward them before Anchovy watched her two Semovente 75/34 assault guns slam on their brakes and stop. A second later there was a boom as the guns fired. One shell glanced off the top armor, ricocheting high into the air. The second slammed directly into the side of the tank and a blast of flames and smoke erupted from its engine. A second later the white flag popped from its top hull and Anchovy smiled.

"Buono!" Anchovy snapped as she saw the first of the Ōarai tanks before her was disabled. "Next target!"

The StuG III slammed onto the breaks and rotated to face them just as Anchovy's tank fired. The heavy sloped frontal armor of the StuG III absorbed the blow and Anchovy swore as the Hetzer turned to face them as well. Two shots from her medium tanks glanced off the slopped frontal armor of the Hetzer as well and Anchovy grimaced before lifting up the radio. "REVERSE!"

The bang of the two 75mm guns a second later marked the end of one of her M15/42 medium tanks and a Semovente 75/34 assault gun before they had backed up into the woods.

Anchovy scowled as she lifted her radio. "Command section is pulling back. Light platoon... what's their position currently?"

"All enemy sections are converging on point BM35, Anchovy." The light tank platoon commander reported.

Anchovy slammed her fists into her knees. "Damn!"

* * *

Akio grimaced as the concussion of his tank's gun washed over him. The shell sailed past one of the italian medium tanks as he watched and struck a tree.

"Damn!" Senmonka said. "Almost had her, they're all maneuvering to keep out of our sights."

On the ridge he watched the remaining Italian tanks maneuver between positions, only peeking out of cover for a moment to send a 47mm shell hurtling their way. Even Miho on the Anglerfish seemed to be tiring of the game. Then the rumble of a smaller motor caught Akio's ear. He shifted to the left, looking toward the woods below him when a tree toppled and three Italian tankettes rolled out behind them. Swearing, Akio pushed his throat mike. "Miho, tankettes behind us!"

"Umm... Redeploy, and hurry!" Miho suddenly said. "Follow me."

"Gunjin, follow Miho. Senmonka, targets at five o'clock. Engage if you can." Akio said and the turret beneath him began to turn as the Panzers jerked into motion accelerating down the road. The tankettes climbed the hill behind them before rolling into pursuit as the three italian medium tanks on the ridge surged out of cover and rolled down toward them.

There was a crack as Miho's tank fired, slamming a shell into the front of a Fiat M13/40 medium tank. It rolled to a stop a second later and it's surrender flag deployed.

"Isuzu-san is on fire today." Senmonka muttered under his breath before the tank's turret ground to a halt. "DAMN! Akio, they're in the dead zone. I can't rotate the turret any further."

Akio nodded. "Miho, can you take the rear position? We can't rotate aft with this thing."

"Hai, go ahead!" Miho answered a moment later as her tank jerked from the brakes and then slid in behind them. "We'll cover you!"

The ping of machine gun bullets glancing off the hulls of both tanks drove Akio down. He wished the tank had a round turret like a Tiger which he could peek out of instead of its current hatch. Then he scowled as another barrage of tracers glanced off his cupola. Hell, he'd be better off with a machine gun ring on the cupola, and then at least he could shoot back.

"Damn it." He muttered before there was another boom from the Anglerfish. He peeked out just in time to see two of the Anzio tankettes swerve around a plume of smoke from a shell. They closed fast, firing their machine guns as they charged and he swore as one of them zoomed past Miho.

"Senmonka target: four o'clock, close!" He shouted and saw the turret move a bit before a boom from another shell filled the air. The L3/35 tankette burst into a cloud of smoke and stopped. Behind it, another tankette swerved to avoid the colliding with its comrade.

"Nice!" Akio said as he peeked out again and saw Miho peering out with a hand on her throat mike. Suddenly another tankette roared forward, moving past the Anglerfish before clattering up beside the Shark. Akio stared in shock as the commander's hatch suddenly opened and a girl stood with a satchel in hand. Then he swore as she swung it ahead of them.

"Gunjin!" Akio shouted as the satchel hit the ground right before them and the drive jerked the controls to avoid it. Then it exploded.

Smoke and dust filled the air as the scream of treads ripping apart made his teeth ache and the Shark slid across the ground, its shattered left tread uncoiling behind it. Miho's Anglerfish drifted as Reizei masterfully pivoted the tank, turning it around to on the loose gravel so that it slid into place protecting the Shark's vulnerable rear.

The L3/33 tankette that had delivered the charge slammed into a tree off the road, knock off course by the blast. A moment later a shell from Isuzu-san's gun slammed into its side, knocking it out.

The pursuing Anzio team scattered, the lone L3/35 driving off the road and into the woods while the two italian medium tanks drove into ditches and began to pump shots toward the Anglerfish.

Akio coughed and waved away the dust. "Miho?"

"Zug I to Zug II and III, hold your position at BM35. We've got the Shark detracked here, I'll be protecting it until he can move again." Miho ordered. "Keep the Leopon alive, we'll see you soon."

As the acknowledgements came Miho glanced at him. "Let's show them what you've got, eh Akio?" At that she tapped the top of the tank and the Anglerfish backed into them, pushing them around to face the two Anzio medium tanks. A predatory smile slid over Akio's face as his tank's gun swung onto the left tank and Miho's tank targeted the right one.

"Fire!" Miho said and two booms echoed over the mountains.

* * *

Anchovy stared at her map and gritted her teeth as Carpaccio relayed the news. The medium tank platoon had been wiped out. Her forces were scattered across the board, and her tankette platoon reduced to one lone L3/33. Her command platoon had lost one of its medium tanks and an assault gun while the light tank platoon was scattered all across the map relaying the enemy positions. Now, she didn't need them for that.

The enemy were stuck protecting their damaged compatriots. With a furrowed brow she leaned over her map and began to draw up a plan. "Carpaccio, detach the 75/34 from the platoon. We'll use it for fire support now. Tell the light tanks and tankette to form up and head for point BK37. We'll reorganize and finish them off."

Carpaccio nodded as the rest of her crew stared at her with anxious expressions.

* * *

Point BM35 was a junction near the top of the ridgeline. The roads which Zug I and II were traveling bent inward toward the point on the map while the center road continued further north into the mountains. The whole area was strewn with boulders and loose stone. Scrubby pine trees and shrubs managed to grow between the bits of rock and stones.

It was hot in the small ditch beside the road which the Tiger (P) had parked in. Already the whole crew was hard at work, grabbing hold of wrenches and toolkits. They assembled a metal tripod over the tank which they had stowed alongside the vehicle and Tsubasa helped Hoshino attach a set of chains and grapples to the turret. The chains and metal cables would then be worked through a pulley at the top of the tripod and the whole turret lifted clear of the tank so the turret's rotation mechanisms could be cleared and the turret ring repaired as best as they could.

On the Ōarai it was a job that would have taken several hours, here in the field the entire crew of the Leopon worked at a feverish pace. Four of them worked on the turret as Satoko climbed into the open engine compartment and started working on the transmission and radiator which had both complained at the strain which had been put on them.

Zug II arrived a few minutes later and immediately drove into screening positions around the Tiger. Momo had put her Hetzer atop the highest part of the ridge overlooking them and was scanning the area with a set of large binoculars every few minutes. Erwin had put her StuG closer to Tiger (P), but she too was nervously scanning the area with binoculars hoping to catch sight of the enemy long before they arrived.

Zug I wasn't coming and the rest of the Ōarai team waited anxiously wondering what would come next.


	6. Accident against Anzio

_Author's Note: This story is now on an 'Irregular' update schedule, meaning it will be updated when I have time or am bored. It's not dead, at least not yet._

_Also, today I'm launching my second Original series through Kindle Direct Publishing: VALKYRIE #1: Candidates. So if you want to support me, and encourage me to write both this story and others I suggest you check it out along with my previous novel 'A Fox's Tale'. The details are in my profile._

_I'm hoping to eventually make a living writing and thus give myself more time to write stories like this as a hobby. I intend to continue to release more fanfiction when I launch future works as a sort of 'promo' for my original stories. Like it or not, it does mean you get more fanfiction in the future._

_You guys do remember my talk about simulated munitions, don't you? It'll have a role in this chapter._

_Disclaimer: Girls und Panzer is the property of Actas._

* * *

**CHAPTER 6:  
****Accident against Anzio****  
**

Maho chewed her lip as she watched the Leopold display showing the various units on the battlefield. Beside her, Erika was struggling to keep her knee from bouncing. On the screen, they could see the Ōarai tank crews were hard at work. The Tiger (P) of theirs required a great deal of work, but even Maho was impressed by how fast the crew was working. Already the turret was hanging suspended from the improvised crane and two of the orange suited crew were clearing the turret ring on the hull. In the back the hatches for the engine were open and one of the orange suited girls was working on the massive Maybach engine within.

She glanced across the display to the two tanks that were away from the group. Miho's Panzer IV and the new Panzer III/IV that her team had somehow acquired. The Panzer III/IV had lost a track and now Miho had backed her tank up behind the III/IV facing away from it so that she could cover it's aft. Most of the III/IV's crew was disembarked, hurriedly working on fixing the track.

It was then that Maho noticed that they were boys, not girls. Beside her, Erika furrowed her brow as she noticed as well. "Boys... that tank's crewed just by boys!"

Maho arched an eyebrow at the Vice Captain and wondered if she should consider replacing her with Pansā-chan before their rematch with Ōarai. Erika was downright impetuous, and Maho had hoped that she'd have been able to curb that impulse. It hadn't worked.

Miho had made a much better Vice Captain, Maho thought. She had the Nishizumi calmness to her when under fire, and while she wasn't as stoic as Maho had turned, Miho had the ability to take initiative and thoughtfully change plans. She was tricky, a trait that had led Ōarai to victory.

"Perhaps they'll be able to fix the track faster than your crew Erika," Maho said in a sardonic tone as Erika quietly seethed from the barb. "I wonder if the other new tank is crewed by boys as well?"

Erika scowled and focused back on the match. "I have trouble believing that Anchovie has done so well against them..."

Maho's lip twitched faintly at those words. "They do so well because they are unpredictable and tricky, much like Miho."

* * *

There was a thump as the sledgehammer connected with the track, knocking off the metal shoe that held the track links together. A moment later Akio rubbed his forehead as Gunjin tossed the damage track onto the top of the tank and then bent down to slide the spare track into place.

Heishi grumbled as he helped Keibiin thread the tracks over the return rollers and drug the weighty track into place, one hefty pull at a time. Glancing at the work, Akio guessed it'd take another fifteen minutes or so before the track was back in place. Still, compared to the work that Leopon's crew had to put in, fixing a track was relatively simple.

His shoulders ached from the exertion as he tossed the sledgehammer onto the top of the tank and secured it in a storage rack. Then he wiped his brow again and wondered if he could ask Erwin where she got that field cap. It was hot and hard work, still he couldn't wait to get rolling again.

Akio walked over to the Anglerfish and glanced up to see Miho holding up a set of binoculars to scan the area. Her auburn hair blew in the faint wind and a slight smile slipped across his face. "Miho, anything?"

"No, Anchovy has not even attack BM35 either." She said quietly before lowering her field glasses. Then she pressed her throat mike, "Duck Team, report status?"

Akio could just barely make out the team leader's answer, "Nishizumi-sama, we're still making our way toward point BM35, the foliage is thick. No contact yet."

"Understood, Isobe-chan," Miho said and released the throat microphone. "How much longer before you can begin to move out?"

"Ten, maybe, fifteen minutes," Akio said as he clambered up the side of the Anglerfish and sat down. "I think we're going to need to consider upgrading these tanks again..."

Miho frowned, "Duck team needs a better tank, if we get funds to replace a tank I would replace that one first. Yours and mine are quite good as they are."

"That's not what I meant, I think we would have done better if there were cupola mounted machine guns on our tanks, I've seen them in a lot of old photos from the Second World War," He said.

Miho blinked and then smiled slightly, "That would have helped with the tankettes, and it wouldn't be too expensive... I'll talk with—"

"UNDER FIRE!" Came a yell through the radio and they both jumped.

* * *

The sound of the shell tearing through the air sent a chill down Tsubasa's back. He swore as a bang from it impacting around fifty meters north of their position caused all of them to turn toward the impact point. Then the sound of a second shell tearing through the air drove Tsubasa into action. "EVERYONE UNDER THE LEOPON!"

Hoshino let go of the chain holding the turret aloft and it dropped back into the ring with a bang as Nakajima and Suzuki threw down their tools and scrambled for the cover of the tank. A shout came from the driver's compartment as Tsuchyia was rattled by the impact of the multi-ton turret.

Another boom drew Tsubasa's attention as he dove under the chassis of the Tiger. The shell was about five meters closer than the last.

"Where is it coming from?" Suzuki asked as she shimmied under the tank beside him.

"I don't know, I couldn't see anyone shooting at us." Hoshino said as she crawled under the tank.

Tsubasa took a deep breath. "Does Anzio have artillery or something?"

* * *

Anchovy smiled as she looked over at the Semovente 75/34 that was ramped up on the side of the hill to increase its elevation. The gun commander had a a detailed map of the area spread out atop the tank and was yelling instructions to the gunner every few shots. Through the radio, they were being relayed corrections to their aim from the one light tank that Anchovy had left atop one of the numerous plateaus and mountainsides that covered the battlefield.

"Carpaccio... now that we have those at BM35 pinned, let's remove their brain, hmm?" Anchovy smirked as she glanced at her lieutenant.

"Nishizumi herself then... What of that last panzer? We have not had a report of the Type 89 in some time?" Carpaccio reminded Anchovy.

"It's a lone Type 89. Even our worst tank should be able to handle it!" Anchovy said as she knocked on the top of the P26/40 tank that served as her command tank. Behind her the remains of her tanks save for the lone scout and assault gun rumbled to life. "If we strike together, not even Nishizumi will be able to stop us!"

* * *

"Report! What's going on?" Miho said as she pressed her microphone and glanced anxiously at the Panzer III/IV that was being worked on at that moment. Through the radio she could hear the boom of a shell and grimaced. "Momo-chan!"

A second later Momo's voice crackled through the radio. "We're being shot at, but we don't see whoever is doing it! There's no tracer either."

"Erwin, do you see them?" Miho asked.

"No, it's like the Paris gun! All we can do is wait for the shell to land," Erwin answered with a growl slipping into her voice.

Yukari glanced up from her position in the loader's compartment. "Miho, most tracers burn out after... two thousand meters or so. They must be shooting from further away then that."

Miho nodded. "The Semovente, they must be using it like an artillery piece. Even the Tiger (P) doesn't have the top armor to defeat a HEAT shell from that, and HEAT penetration isn't dependent on distance."

"Artillery! Miho, what do we do?" Momo asked. "We've never been shelled like this, even with Kuromorimine we could see the source of the fire."

"We have to keep one of the units there to guard the Leopon... Turtle-sama? Can you find the spotter they have to be using," Miho said.

"Hai, we'll find them," Momo said instantly.

"The question is, where are the rest of them?" Hana said quietly from her seat before the radio crackled again.

"Duck-sama to Anglerfish, we've spotted seven tanks at point BL33 heading west through the woods, requesting orders."

Miho looked down at her map, her eyes widening slightly. "Shadow them." She glanced over at Akio, "How soon will you be ready to move? It looks like they're headed our way."

"Just a few more minutes." Akio said scrambling toward his tank. "How long before they get here?"

Miho's gaze moved to the map for a moment and she pursed her lips. "Ten, maybe fifteen minutes. Will you be ready?"

Akio glanced over at his crew just finishing to secure the pins for the track and smiled. "Yes, we're basically ready now. Ambush positions?"

"Hai," Miho said.

* * *

Anchovy leaned back against the rim of the command hatch, a smirk plastered across her face. She glanced to the side and saw the force she'd assembled. Beside her own tank, she had an M15/42 medium tank remaining from the command platoon. Behind them were the four tanks from the light tank platoon and the single remaining tankette spread out in a flying wedge formation, or as close as they could get to it in the rough forested terrain. The command tank for the light tank platoon rolled up beside her, a Fiat M11/39.

Glancing back at the map, Anchovy smiled before thumbing on the radio. "Have hit them yet?"

"Sorry... we've never tried to shoot anything at this range before, Anchovy. It's all guess work," Came the answer from the lone remaining assault gun. A moment later there was the boom of another shell. "We'll report any hits we score, do not worry about that Captain."

Anchovy frowned a bit at that, but shrugged. Even if the Semovente didn't score a hit, it was keeping three tanks of Ōarai's pinned down while she maneuvered against Nishizumi and one other Panzer. It took a long time to repair a track, so that one probably wouldn't even be a factor especially with a bunch of inexperienced boys fixing it.

She scowled slightly at that, boys in the sport. Maybe Ōarai loosing would convince the Sensha-dō Federation to keep them out.

The forest cleared and she found the road stretched out before her with the ridge that had been the medium platoon's firing position. Instead of the two panzers she'd expected to find beside the road, parked to defend each other, there was just a couple marks in the earth where the tank had been detracked. They were gone.

She growled in frustration and grabbed the radio. "Line abreast, watch for-"

"CONTACT BEH—" The shout was cut off by the boom of a shell and she twisted in her seat to find one of the L6/40s with a plume of smoke rising from its engine compartment along with a white flag. There, only a hundred meters behind them sat the Type 89 I-Go, only its turret visible as it began to rotate to target another of her tanks.

"ROTATE! ENEMY BEHIND! HURRY IT—"

Two more cannon reports filled the air and Anchovy twisted to see the M15/42 tank that sat beside her envelop in smoke followed immediately by the M11/39 tank that served as the light tank platoons command tank. Looking toward the plateau she felt her eyes lock onto the smoking barrel of the Panzer IV Ausf. H, that was Miho's tank, peeking from a set of bushes. Her gaze darted over the plateau in time to catch sight of the second Panzer rotating its gun to a new target.

Between two Panzers and a Type 89, she'd take the Type 89.

"AMBUSH! REVERSE!" Anchovy shouted as her tank bucked into reverse and she started to call out targets. "Panzer III/IV at one o'clock, Panzer IV at ten o'clock, Type 89 at six o'clock, engage at will!"

* * *

"WE GOT ONE! Great spike Akebi-chan!" Noriko shouted with glee as she gave her teammate a high-five. "Next, take out that tankette!"

"Isobe-san, they're backing up!" Taeko said from her seat. "They'll be throwing sets at us at this rate!"

Noriko frowned as she helped Akebi reload the Type 89 I-Go's pitiful 57mm low-velocity gun. Then she glanced down at Shinobu, "Get ready to get us out of here... they'll be on us soon."

"RIGHT!" Shinobu said as she gripped the controls for the treads tightly. Noriko smirked to herself as she finished reloading. Against Pravda, Saunders, and any of the other high-end teams their tank was a bit of a joke. It had only been through the sheer determination of herself and the rest of the volleyball club that they had done as well as they had. Now, against Anzio, with their thin skinned light and medium tanks, it was a chance for them to really show off what they were capable of.

"Spike another one Akebi!" Noriko said with a grin.

The boom of the 57mm echoed in the cramped turret and Noriko popped her head out just in time to see the last L3/33 tankette in Anzio's arsenal stutter to a stop with smoke pouring from its engine. The other Anzio tanks fired furiously in all directions trying to take out one of their foes, and Noriko grimaced as a shell whizzed just past her head to smash into a tree.

"One just crossed in front of us!" Taeko shouted before the clatter of a Type 91 machine gun filled the air. Through commander's periscope Noriko watched as a line of tracers clattered across the L5/30 Light Tank before its treads were torn off by the barrage of machine gun fire. After another burst its engine compartment exploded with a burst of pyrotechnics and it's white flag deployed.

"Three... Awesome." Noriko muttered to herself as the turret rotated again. "Target that one!" Noriko shouted and Akebi swung the manual turret almost through sheer force of will toward the remaining L6/40, running from the fight. A second later the gun spoke, sending a shell into its side and ending its run toward freedom.

Then Noriko saw the P26/40 loom in her periscope, it's gun swinging to bear on them as it reversed straight toward their position. "BACK UP!"

The Type 89 I-Go jumped into action, far faster than any Type 89 had any right to and reversed out of the way as the P26/40 toppled into the position they'd just abandoned. Seeing the 75mm cannon swing to catch them, Noriko shouted again. "LEFT FAST!"

Shinobu responded instantly, jerking the tank to the left and then slamming the tracks to full speed. The engine whined as the Type 89 drove behind the P26/40 and sped toward the plateau where Anglerfish and Shark had begun to roll out to attack.

The P26/40 ran as they headed for Anglerfish, disappearing into the trees. Noriko grinned as she counted knocked out tanks in her head. "Four... we got four Akebi!"

"HAI!" Their gunner said with a grin. "Even Taeko got one!"

"AWESOME!"

* * *

Tsubasa grimaced as a shell impacted the ground, perhaps only a few meters away. With a grimace he glanced at Hoshino, who was staring out between the tracks wide eyed. "They're getting closer."

"How many damn shells does that track have?" Satoko asked before rolling onto her stomache and staring out at the surroundings. "They must have fired almost two dozen of them by now."

Tsubasa scowled before a second bang filled the air, rolling over from the distance. He pushed the radio headphones he had to his ear.

"Scratch one!" Momo declared across the radio lines. "That'd be their spotter."

"Hai!" Tsubasa said. "They won't be able to hit us now!"

A boom from directly overhead made the Tiger (P) shudder for a long moment. Then he heard the unmistakable sound of the surrender flag deploying overhead.

"DAMN IT!" Hoshino said.

Satoko grimaced, "What's worse is they won't know they knocked us out. They'll keep firing."

"Oh hell..." Tsubasa muttered under his breath. "Come on, someone find that damn gun and shut it up!"

* * *

"We've lost contact with the spotter Anchovy!" The radio channel crackled in her ear as she glanced back toward the plateau and saw the Panzers in pursuit. With a scowl, Anchovy glanced back at her map.

"Head for point BA 10 and setup an ambush position there. We'll drag some of this lot your way." Anchovy answered before looking over at Cappacio. "Perhaps we can still turn the tide somehow..."

There was silence in the tank at those words and Anchovy knew that the rest of her crew didn't believe it. True the two tanks they had left were the best of the lot, but Nishizumi still had two Panzers on their tail and that insufferable Type 89 I-Go. Not to mention the three other tanks that they had at point BM35.

Anchovy gritted her teeth as a shell whizzed past the turret of her P26/40 as it clattered its way through the brush. Glancing back she could see the Ōarai tanks catching up with her position. The Panzer III/IV was moving fast, rolling through gaps in the trees and weaving its way through the conifers like a shark while the Panzer IV doggedly followed them, knocking over trees that were in the way and letting out short bursts of machine gun fire to send her tank diving for cover.

Then there was the Type 89, it was impossible for an old tank like that to speed through the woods like some fast tankette, or so she'd thought, but somehow it would appear to their front or sides every few minutes and toss a shell in their direction, even though it was almost guaranteed the round would glance uselessly off the armor of their tank, if it hit.

Anchovy slammed her fist against the turret armor in frustration as another round ripped through the air just over her head. "I had a plan, and it was working! Nishizumi..." She gritted her teeth. It all came back to that, she was facing Ōarai and Nishizumi Miho, the cast out of the Nishizumi family... the black sheep, the renegade, and the champion.

"Any other team would have fallen apart after such losses..." She growled.

* * *

Miho glanced down at the map cradled in her lap and frowned slightly. The other tanks had reported that the fire had stopped on their position after Momo had bagged the spotter, but despite that the Leopon had been knocked out. That left Hippo and Turtle team separate from her group searching for the gun.

She looked through the periscopes again as the forest cleared into a field of sunflowers with a copse of trees atop a ridge at the far end of the field of view. She frowned slightly as she looked back toward the map. Wasn't this the direction that her other tanks had reported the shells had come from?

Her eyes widened and grabbed hold of the command hatch and pushed it open before clambering atop the seat. She lifted her binoculars toward the copse of trees and froze.

She stared down the muzzle of the 75mm gun, her heart freezing in her chest. Then there was a flash.

In all the work making the sport of making Sensha-dō safer, there had been a few definite hurdles to overcome. Among them was the safety of the crew, which while in the tank were almost completely protected by layers of carbon composite armor and steel. Outside of the tank however, no team issued body armor or other protective gear. Instead they relied upon the specially designed ammunition to keep injuries to a minimum. With machine guns, it was little problem... as making simulated munitions that were safe for use at that scale was very well understood.

The same could not be said for a 75mm shell that weight several kilos by itself. True, they were made to be as safe to use as possible in the matches, but being struck by one made being hit in the chest by a medicine ball feel downright comfortable in comparison. The shell had been designed to expend its impact energy in deforming and destroying itself, but even then some of the energy would be transferred into whatever it struck.

In this case it struck an eighty kilo girl directly in the chest.

* * *

Akio felt his jaw drop as the flash of dust and smoke from the impact of a shell seemed to envelop the top of the Anglerfish before the limp form of it's commander toppled into view and rolled off the engine deck onto the ground behind the Anglerfish. There was yelling on the radio channel as he tore his headset off and scrambled out of the turret.

"Akio!" He heard a shout before he jumped off the back of the tank and rolled, knocking over sunflowers as he hit the ground. Then he scrambled toward her, swearing under his breath.

A shell ripped through the air as he dropped down beside Miho. Still swearing to himself he checked her pulse and winced on seeing the shattered pair of binoculars that she'd been holding. Dust from the shell coated her white sailor's uniform and he grimaced as he listened to her breathing.

She was alive, but there was a hiss to each breath that worried him just before he heard the shift of Panzer IV's transmission. Then it started to back up.

Akio rolled Miho out of the way of the track and swore as the massive metal behemoth rolled over them before coming to a stop. He clasped his hands over his ears before the boom of the main gun filled the air. He cursed again before there was another boom of shell fire, then nothing.

Only the low rumble of the tank engines filled the air.

"Miho?" He muttered before he shook her shoulder. "Can you hear me?"

"A-a-akio?" She murmured quietly and he let out a sigh of relief as he eyes slowly opened. Then she winced. "Oww... oww... oww..."

"Careful," Akio said.

"Why are we under my panzer?" She asked quietly before her eyes widened suddenly. "The Semovente... it... I blacked out." Miho's expression twisted with pain and she grabbed he side. "It hit me, didn't it?"

"Hai..." Akio said quietly before his expression hardened. "Anglerfish almost ran over you, Miho..."

Her already wide eyes seemed to widen impossibly at those words and she shuddered. "Reizei... REIZEI!" She almost screamed the name before looking up at the tank and frowning. "I... I can't move, it hurts and I'll need to crawl."

Akio nodded and took ahold of her arm pits. "I'll help you out." Slowly he shimmied his way out from under the tank, dragging Miho after him. When he at last could stand behind the Panzer IV, he pulled one of her arms over his shoulder to support her as he lifted her up. Miho's normally placid expression was rocked with pain, shock, and fear as he steadied her.

"Is the match over? All Anzio had left was the Semovente and P26." She said quietly before glancing up and spotting Yukari peeking out of the top hatch. "YUKARI!"

The shout made the eccentric girl grimace and topple out of sight for a moment before peeking up from the cupola. "Miho... MIHO!"

"Enough, Yukari tell Takebe-san to get a medical team over here!" Akio snapped at the girl. "And hurry!"

"Me... Med... Medic..." Yukari stammered for a moment before a flash of understanding seemed to appear in her mind. Then she ducked down into the tank and started shouting at Takebe Saori.

Akio helped Miho sit on the engine deck and gingerly pushed her rib-cage trying to remember what little bit of first aid he'd learned before. "How badly does it hurt?"

"Tch... It stings, very much." Miho said with a grimace. "What about the-"

"It doesn't matter, this isn't even a season match. You're hurt, lets deal with that first," Akio statted flatly.

She flushed slightly at those words and glanced down at her knees which were bruised and scabbed from the fall. In fact now that he was looking, Akio could see a dozen odd places where she was bruising from either the impact or being tossed from the tank.

"Last time... I had to finish the match," Miho said with a hiss. "Last year, with Kuromorimine, it happened in the Saunders match."

"Maybe you shouldn't stick your head out so much then," Akio said quietly before mussing up her hair.

"Can't see that well without opening the hatch," Miho said with a shake of her head. "You stick your head out too, don't you Akio-kun?"

"Yeah, but then I'm following your lead," Akio replied.

Yukari popped open the hatch again and clambered out looking worried. She sat down beside Miho and grimaced. "Nishizumi-sama?"

"Is the match over?" Miho asked quietly.

"Hai, we finished just after you... umm..." Yukari glanced away.

Miho let out a relieved sigh and seemed to sink against Yukari, using her for support. Akio straightened up and scowled. "We'll need to drill some more safety rules, you almost ran over her... If I hadn't seen what happened..." Akio shuddered. There was only one real outcome for a girl being run over by a tank weight twenty-five tons. The way she'd fallen, she might have survived, but she'd have lost both legs.

Yukari grew watery eyed before suddenly hugging Miho. "I'm sorry! We all panicked when that shell blew, and Reizei shifted into reverse, and..."

"No harm, this time. We just have to make sure it..." She wheezed and rubbed her ribs. "It does not happen again."

The familiar sound of a helicopter approaching filled the air and Miho glanced up as a medical chopped flared over the field of sunflowers. As it landed her gaze shifted to the small form of Anchovy approaching with her leutenant. Slowly the girl's hardened resolve seem to crack as she caught sight of Miho looking battered. Anchovy's bravado fled her as she stopped before Miho.

"You beat me, again..." She said, her voice quieting as she studied Miho. "I didn't mean to have you hurt! I just wanted to win, to prove we're not a joke!" Anchovy's voice cracked before she let out a long sigh. "I... I guess all I can say is... Good match and... Umm... Get well soon."

The girl that stood by Anchovy's side nodded and gave a faint smile. "Yes, it was a good match."

As they left the medical techs from the Helicopter stepped up to Miho and started to check her over. Akio caught the words, 'bruised ribs', 'shock', 'minor lacerations', and one of them muttering 'Lucky she didn't break anything.'

* * *

Maho was white in the face as she stared at the screen which had been rewound on the moment Miho had toppled from her Panzer. Beside her, Erika too was silent as they saw the one of the boys on her team run to her aide and roll her out of the way of the Panzer IV's treads when it went into reverse. Internally Maho was struggling to clamp down on her emotions, but she knew that the moment she was out of sight of her friends, the shattered damn and mask she wore would break.

The announcer talked a bit about the match in the background before a heavy palm was laid upon her shoulder. She glanced back in time to see the old man that Shiho had described, staring down at her with one eye hidden behind an eye-patch.

"You must be Maho," He said quietly. "Your mother is not here to stop you, you know."

Maho's lips twitched slightly and she nodded. "Hai..."


End file.
